; LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 1 



i UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ^ 



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XLbc Morlt)*0 (Breat 3£yplorcr0 
anb Bjplovattons* 

Edited by J. Scott Keltie, Librarian, Royal Geographical Society ; 
H. J. Mackinder, M.A., Reader in Geography at the University 
of Oxford: and E. G- Ravenstein, F.R.G.S. 



A LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS, 

THE NAVIGATOR. 



The next Volume in the Series will be 

Unifonn in Size and Price, 

PALESTINE. 

By Major C. R. CONDER, R.E. 

Leader of the Palestine Exploring Expeditions. 

With numerous Illustrations from Original Sketches and 

Photographs, and accompanied by several 

entirely New Maps. 



LIFE OF JOHN DAYIS, 

THE NAVIGATOR, 
1550— 1605, 

DISCOVERER OF DAVIS STRAITS. 




CLEMENTS K. MARKHAM, C.B., RRS. 



( 



,^H. 



NEW YORK 
DODD, MEAD & COMPANY 

Publishers 



Q¥\ jj,y 



^ 



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EDITORIAL PREFACE. 



The story of the world's exploration is always attrac- 
tive. We naturally take a keen interest in the per- 
sonality of the men who have dared to force their way 
into the unknown, and so unveiled to us the face of 
mother earth. The ' in the work of exploration 

has been particularly si ^ and widespread in recent 
years, and it is believed that a series of volumes dealing 
with the great explorers and explorations of the past 
is likely to prove welcome to a wide circle of readers. 
Without a knowledge of what has been accomplished, 
the results of the unprecedented exploring activity of 
the present cannot be understood. It is hoped, there- 
fore, that the present series will supply a real want. 
With one or two exceptions, each volume will deal 
mainly with one leading explorer, bringing out pro- 
minently the man's personality, telling the story of his 
life, and showing in full detail what he did for the ex- 
ploration of the world. When it may be necessary to 
depart somewhat from the general plan, it will always 
be kept in view that the series is essentially a popular 



vi EDITORIAL PREFACE. 

one. When complete the series will form a Biogra- 
phical History of Geographical Discovery. 

The Editors congratulate themselves on having been 
able to secure the co-operation of men well known as 
the highest authorities in their own departments ', their 
names are too familiar to the public to require intro- 
duction. Each writer is of course entirely responsible 
for his own work. 

THE EDITORS. 



CONTENTS. 



» ■ 

CHAP. PAGE 

L HOME A2;rD BOYHOOD I 

ii. preparations for the north . . . .13 

ni. the first and second arctic voyages . . 34 

iv. the third arctic voyage 53 

v. war services . 72 

vi. preparations for the south .... 92 

vn. the voyage to the straits op magellan . ii 5 

viil progress of the art of navigation . . i40 

ix. authorship 1 58 

x. the dutch voyage ' . i79 

xl the first voyage op the east india company 1 95 

xil the last voyage 211 

xni. the following up of the work of davis. — 

l by the "furious overfall" . . . 226 
xiv. the following up of the work of davis. — 

ii. by "sanderson his hope" . . , 248 

Appendix— On the Authorities .... 266 

Index 271 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS. 



FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. 

1. Dr. Dee, John Davis, and Adrian Gilbert discussing North- 

West Passage with Sir Francis Walsingham . Frontispiece 
{From an Original Drawing by H. Johnston.) 

2. John Davis's Birthplace at Sandridge . . , facing page 4 

{From an Original Sketch by Captain F. G. JD. Bedford, C.B.) 

3. St. Petrox, Dartmouth „ 7 

{From an Original Sketch by Captain F. G. D. Bedford, C.B.) 

4. Title-page of "The Seaman's Secrets" (facsimile) ,, 159 

5. Davis's Handwriting (facsimile) , , . , „ 175 

ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT. 



Godthaab District . page 40 
Sanderson His Hope . ,,57 

Cape Virgins . . ,, 128 

Scene in Magellan Straits — 

Mount Sarmiento . ,, 133 

Cross-Staff . . . ,, 145 
Diagram of Mercator's Pro- 
jection ." . . ,,149 



Diagram illustrating various 
Projections . . page 151 



The Cross-Staff . 


• >, 


164 


The Back-Staff or 


Davis's 




Quadrant 


,, 


165 


Davis's Autograph 


,, 


175 


The Bed Dragon 


J, 


199 



The Northern Discoveries of 

John Davis to face page 35 
Magellan Strait , „ 115 



MAPS {Piintedht Colours). 

The Voyages of John Davis 



to face page 179 
Search for a N.-W. Passage ,, 227 



MAPS IN TEXT. 



Cabot's Map , , page 15 
TheZeniMap . . „ 18 
Arctic Map from Atlas of 

Ortelius . . ,,28 

The New Map of Davis Strait 62 



The Azores . . . page 84 
Sumatra and the Straits of 

Malacca . . ,, 220 

Spitzbergen . . ,, 227 

The Persian Gulf . „ 263 



LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. 

CHAPTER I. 

-HOME AND BOYHOOD. 

The knowledge of the varied regions of our earth is due 
to the devoted labours of a few great men. It is to 
the pioneers of old, who first opened the gates leading to 
the unknown, who first threw their light on discoveries 
which were completed by those who followed it — it is to 
these worthies that mankind owes its knowledge of the 
earth, and all the consequences which have followed from 
such knowledge. Every region on the earth's surface 
connects itself with one or a few great names — the names 
of men who first threw a clear light over an unknown 
tract, or who were mainly instrumental in illuminating 
the previous darkness. Hence it is that the life-history 
of a chief among explorers embraces the geography of 
the region with which his name is associated. The con- 
nection is inseparable. Around the story of a great 
explorer's life the facts relating to his discoveries are 
naturally grouped. The skill and fortitude, the dangers 
and hardships, the aspirations and successes, of the man 
breathe life and human interest into the physical aspects 
and scientific facts connected with the region upon which 

A 



2 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1550. 

his labours threw light. Biography is the best vehicle 
for the conveyance and retention of geographical know- 
ledge. 

The Arctic Eegions are connected with many a tale 
of chivalrous daring, with many a heart-stirring episode ; 
and such deeds are interwoven so closely with the phy- 
sical conditions of the locality, that the one cannot be 
related without a knowledge of the other. This is so in 
all parts of the world, but it is more especially the case 
in the wild regions of the North. Foremost in the front 
rank of Arctic worthies stand the names of the Eliza- 
bethan seamen Davis, Hudson, and Baffin ; and their 
life-histories cannot be studied and stored in our memo- 
ries without a sound geographical knowledge of the 
region upon which their labours threw a flood of light, 
and the complete discovery of which is but the following 
up of routes first pointed out by them. 

The England of Queen Elizabeth was just awakening 
to a sense of her greatness, and of the possibilities of 
her future. Men were in earnest in those days. The 
example of the great Queen filled them with passionate 
loyalty. Elizabeth called upon them to fight for the 
liberty of their neighbours, and they doggedly faced the 
matchless infantry of Spain until the cause of freedom 
triumphed. Their Queen and their country were syno- 
nymous terms. For Elizabeth and for England they 
traversed unknown seas, visited the ends of the earth, 
and mastered all the knowledge of their adversaries. 
In after years, when England was disgraced under the 
feeble tyranny of the Stuarts, men looked back with 
bitter regret to the days of the great Queen. The uni- 
versal feeling found eloquent expression from that illus- 
trious victim of Stuart malignity, that martyr of our 



1583.] HOME AND BOYHOOD. 3 

liberties — Sir John Eliot. " Elizabeth, that glorious 
star," he exclaimed, "was glorious beyond any of her 
predecessors. The Great Council of the Parliament was 
the nurse of all her actions, and such an emulation of 
love was between that senate and the Queen, as it is 
questionable which had more affection, the Parliament 
in observance unto her, or she in indulgence to the 
Parliament. And what were the effects? Her story 
told them. Peace and prosperity at home, honour and 
reputation abroad, a love and observation in her friends, 
consternation in her enemies, admiration even in all. 
The ambitious pride of Spain was broken by her power, 
the distracted French were united by her arts, the dis- 
tressed Hollanders were supported by her succours. 
Violence and injury were repelled, usurpation and 
oppression counterwrought, the weak assisted, the neces- 
sitous relieved, and men and money into divers parts 
sent out, as if England had been the magazine of them 
all. She was most just and pious to her subjects, inso- 
much that they, by a free possession of their liberties, 
increased in wealth and plenty." In another speech he 
pointed out how the great Queen " made them our scorn 
who now are made our terror." 

Brave Sir John Eliot and his contemporaries might 
well regret the days of Elizabeth. Happy they who 
were privileged to labour for their country during that 
glorious reign, and to achieve undying fame in the ser- 
vice of the Queen. Her sailors and discoverers, after 
long and diligent training, added largely to geographical 
knowledge, and to the greatness and prosperity of their 
country. They hailed from all parts of England, but 
certainly there was a brilliant and numerous band of 
illustrious seamen who were natives of the West 



4 LIFF OF JOHN DAVIS. [1550. 

Country. The Boroughs from Bideford, the gallant 
Hawkins, mariners of Plymouth, Drake, Seymour, Oxen- 
ham, Chudleigh, the Gilberts, Baleigh, and Davis, all 
-came from Devonshire, and all added to the glories of 
the reign of the great Queen. 

In the Elizabethan age there was activity and capa- 
city, and consequent achievement on all sides. It was 
the age of Shakespeare and Spenser, of Bacon and Cecil, 
of Hakluyt and Camden ; but it was also the age of 
Vere and Norris, of Baleigh, Drake, and Hawkins. 
The greatest among these steadfast workers rise above 
their fellows as beacon-lights for future generations. 
As the Elizabethan statesmen raised England to the 
first rank among the nations, as the poets attained an 
excellence never since surpassed, as the soldiers founded 
a school which opens our modern military history, so 
among the mariners there were men who serve as 
beacons and centres for the study alike of maiitime 
discovery and of geography. Drake and Cavendish 
were our first circumnavigators; the opening chapter 
of our connection with the East Indies is headed by 
the name of Lancaster ; Guiana and Virginia are 
coupled for ever with the name of Sir Walter Raleigh, 
and the Arctic Regions with that of John Davis, — one 
of the ablest, and certainly the most scientific, of the 
Queen's West Country sailors. It is with John Davis, 
his discoveries, and the stirring history of his sea-ser- 
vices, that we now have to do, 

John Davis was born at Sandridge, on the left bank 
of the Dart, between Totnes and Dartmouth, in about 
the year 1550, and his brother Edward was a year or 
two younger. They were the sons of a yeoman who 
owned a small freehold in Sandridge, a manor in the 



1583.] HOME AND BOYHOOD. 6 

parish of Stoke Gabriel, of which a branch of the 
Pomeroy family had been lords since the days of 
Edward IIL 

Stoke Creek is the little harbour for Stoke Gabriel. 
To the south are the wooded slopes of Sandridge, rising 
from the river. At the head of the creek is the old 
church, with its spreading yew-tree in the churchyard. 
A graceful screen of carved oak, with figures of saints 
painted in the lower panels, separates the chancel and 
its aisles from the nave, and there is an old pulpit 
carved with grapes and vine- leaves. Mural tablets 
preserve the memory of the Pomeroys, and in the 
worm-eaten parish register are the records of the mar- 
riage of John Davis and the baptisms of his children. 
The little village clusters round the church, and a 
Devonshire lane leads by walls covered with valerian 
and pennywort, and past a pond full of yellow iris, to 
the woods and meadows of Sandridge, approaching them 
from the landward side. 

The manor-house of the Pomeroys stood on an emi- 
nence overlooking the river, surrounded by woods, near 
the site of the present seat of the Baroness de Yerte, 
which was built by Lord Ashburton about eighty years 
ago. This site is flanked by a ravine, at the head of 
which a fai-mhouse faces bright green pastures, which 
slope gently down to a creek of the river. On the left 
are the Sandridge woods, rising from the beach up steep 
slopes, with masses of honeysuckles and dog-roses hang- 
ing over the branches and almost touching the water. 
To the right are groves of splendid old elms and oaks, 
which separate the grounds of the manor-house from 
the small freehold, as it was then, which was the home 
of John Davis in his boyhood. 



6 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1550. 

llie house at Sand ridge was only separated from the 
cove by two or three pastures, and when the two boys, 
John and Edward Davis, ran down to their boat and 
pushed out into mid-stream, a lovely scene met their 
view. The Dart, in this part of its course, widens out, 
and has all the appearance of a lake surrounded by 
wooded hills. Along the northern side are the woods 
of Sandridge and Wadditon, with the hills rising into 
craggy ridges to the east. Here the leafy boughs touch 
the water at high tide, and when the river is low, there 
is a beach where fishermen spread their nets and haul 
up ten and twelve-pound salmon. On the west side there 
is a bold promontory; and the picturesque village of 
Dittisham, surrounded by plum-orchards, runs along the 
lowland of the isthmus from one reach of the river 
to another. The view to the south is closed in by the 
richly wooded heights crowned by Greenway Court, the 
ancestral home of the Gilberts. Here the river narrows 
at Anchor Rock, and flows down for two miles and 
li half to Dartmouth. At high tide this lake-like reach 
between Sandridge and Greenway is one expanse of 
water. When the tide is low, there is a dry flat in the 
centre, along the edge of which herons may be seen 
fishing; and if disturbed by a boat, they rise on the 
wing, and flap lazily away to their nests in Sharpham 
Wood. 

Kind friends and neighbours dwelt around this reach 
of the Dart. The Davis boys in their skiff had a sure 
welcome, whether they steered west, or east, or south. 
Many a time they pulled across, or round the flat if it 
were low tide, and landed under the wooded height of 
Greenway — home of a brotherhood of naval heroes. 
John and Humphrey Gilbert were some years older 



1583.] HOME AND BOYHOOD. 7 

than Johij, Davis, but their younger brother, Adrian, 
was nearly the same age, and the half-brothers Carew 
and Walter Raleigh were a few years younger. When 
boys together, Humphrey and Adrian Gilbert, Walter 
Raleigh, and John Davis must often have made excur- 
sions down the river to Dartmouth. In those days the 
landlocked little harbour was much frequented, and 
ships were built in the dockyard at Hardness. The 
boys might sit on the stone steps and parapets of the 
wharf, and listen for hours to the tales of mariners from 
all parts of the world, till their young hearts thrilled 
with longing to seek honour and fame on the great 
deep. The voyages of English ships were being extended 
in several directions. When the young friends on the 
Dart were still at school, John Hawkins was visiting 
the coast of Guinea and the West Indies, while the ser- 
vants of the Muscovy Company were striving to *' pur- 
chase perpetual fame and renown " by wrestling with 
the ice-floes in the Kara Sea. There were old sailors 
who had made voyages to Guinea and to the White Sea 
many years before. Dartmouth was a great resort of 
sailors, and the boys would have had many opportunities 
of listening to their yarns. They would see the tall 
ships appearing between the beetling cliffs at the har- 
bour mouth, and the weather-beaten crew landing at 
the quay with many a strange curiosity from foreign 
shores. They would be impressed by the sight of the 
God-fearing among them — and there were not a few 
such — wending their way to the little church of St. 
Petrox to offer up thanks for their safe return. Stand- 
ing on the edge of the cliff, where the ships rounded 
the point and ran into the landlocked haven, St. 
Petrox — dedicated to a native Devon saint— seemed to 



8 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1550. 

be the first to welcome their return. Its parapet wall 
was a fine look-out, whence the boys could descry the 
white sails on the horizon, and the great expanse of sea 
which they longed to sail over, and so get their chance 
of "purchasing renown both to themselves and their 
country." 

Greenway Court and a trip to Dartmouth with the 
Gilberts was not the only attraction for young Davis. 
When he shot his boat out of Sandpidge Creek, while 
Greenway was in full view on one hand, the tower of 
Dittisham chuich rose from a valley full of plum- 
orchards on the other; and on the hill, about a milo 
away, stood the manor-house or barton of Bozomzele. 
This old house is still standing. The doorways have 
pointed arches, and it contains a large hall. It is now 
a farmhouse, and is one of the meets for the beagles of 
the Bnlannia cadets. In the sixteenth century it was 
the pleasant seat of Sir John Fulford, who inherited it 
owing to his great-grandfather. Sir Baldwin Fulford, 
having married the heiress of Sir John Bozom. Here 
Sir John often resided with his wife Lady Dorothy, 
daughter of John Bourchier, Earl of Bath, and his six 
children. The visits both of John Davis and of Adrian 
Gilbert were welcome at Bozomzele to children of about 
their own age. The sons were John and Andrew, and 
there were four blooming daughters — Faith, Elizabeth, 
Anne, and Cecilia. The eldest is not mentioned by the 
Heralds of King James in their Visitations, probably 
owing to a reason which will be referred to farther on, 
and which would make her brother at Great Fulford 
unwilling to allude to her ; but the name is given by 
Westcote, whose local information was far more complete 
than that of the Heralds. 



1583.1 HOME AND BOYHOOD. 9 

This intimacy at Bozomzele led to the marriage, in 
after years, of Faith Fulford with John Davis, and of 
the widow of Andrew Fulford with Adrian Gilbert. 
Another neighbour of the Sandridge folks was Richard 
Holway of Watton or Wadditon, who afterwards sold 
his estate to, or, as some say, was cozened out of it by one 
Adams, the husband of another of the Fulford girls. 

John Davis certainly received a classical education, 
but he was not in the same social position as the Gil- 
berts and Fulfords. The Grammar-school at Totnes was 
founded in 1554, and he may have attended there; but 
it seems clear that he went to sea at an early age, and 
was probably absent from home for many years. We 
first get sight of him again in 1579, when he was 
twenty-eight years of age. During the interval Davis 
had not only become an experienced sailor, specially 
expert in the scientific branch of his profession, but was 
also a man whose capacity was recognised beyond the 
limits of his own West Country circle. The character 
of his services is unknown to us, and there is no record 
preserved of his early life at sea. He appears suddenly, 
at the age of twenty-eight, as a captain of known valour 
and conduct, in whom merchants and other adventurers 
were willing to repose trust and confidence. 

His comrades at Greenway had also made their way 
in the world. John, the eldest of the Gilberts, was 
established at Greenway and Compton as an active 
magistrate. Humphrey, after an education at Eton and 
Oxford, had served with distinction in Ireland, had gal- 
lantly led the volunteers at Flushing and Goes against 
the flower of the Spanish infantry, and had finally 
devoted his energies to schemes of discovery and colo- 
nisation. His famous discourse on the North- West 



10 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1550. 

Passage displays much classical learning, a thorough 
knowledge of the then conditions of the problem, and a 
noble spirit of patriotic devotion. In 1578 he made his 
first voyage to the West ; soon afterwards he obtained 
a patent for colonising newly- discovered lands, and in 
1583 he sailed with five ships with the object of form- 
ing a settlement in Newfoundland. One vessel deserted 
him, another was lost. The return voyage had to be 
made in the Golden Hind and the little Squirrel of ten 
tons. Gilbert was urged to go on board the larger and 
safer ship, but he replied, " I will not forsake my little 
company going homeward, with whom I have passed so 
many storms and perils." The Hind kept as near her 
consort as possible, but a violent storm arose off the 
Azores. Captain Hayes of the Hind saw Sir Humphrey 
sitting abaft with a book in his hand, and heard him cry 
out, *' Courage, my lads ! we are as near to heaven by 
sea as by land." The same night the little SquirreVs 
light suddenly disappeared, and nothing more was ever 
seen of her. A squirrel was the crest of the Gilberts. 
Thus did one of the boys who had listened so eagerly to 
the yarns of sailors on Dartmouth quay win his way 
to fame. He died prematurely, but not before he had 
made his name immortal. It was as he would have 
desired. " He is not worthy to live at all," he exclaimed 
at the close of his discourse on the North- West Passage, 
"who for fear or danger of death shunneth his country's 
service or his own honour, since death is inevitable and 
the fame of virtue immortal." 

The other boys lived on, strengthened and invigorated 
in their struggle for fame by the glorious example of 
their comrade. Adrian Gilbert was a man of consider- 
able learning, a doctor of medicine, a mineralogist, a very 



1583.] HOME AND BOYHOOD. 11 

able mathematician, and an ardent promoter of geogra- 
phical discovery. Walter Raleigh was three years at 
Oxford with Hakluyt and Camden, and went in 1569 
to serve with the Huguenots in France, fighting at the 
battles of Jarnac and Moncontour, and not returning 
home until 1575. He probably undertook a voyage to 
the West Indies in 1577, made the voyage with his 
brother Humphrey Gilbert in 1578, and did good ser- 
vice in Ireland in 1580. In the year 1582 Raleigh had 
become a favourite of the Queen, and was placed in 
a position to do still more valuable service to his 
country. A learned scholar, with ripe experience both 
as a soldier and a sailor, and full of zeal for dis- 
covery, this comrade of Davis's boyhood had also won 
his way to a front place in the ranks of the Elizabethan 
worthies. 

John Davis returned home in 1579, and passed the 
next six years partly at Sandridge and partly in Lon- 
don. Adrian Gilbert was then living in a house at 
Sandridge. He probably rented the manor-house of 
the Pomeroys. He married the widow of Andrew 
Fulford, and was in constant companionship with the 
friend of his boyhood. The young ladies at Bozom- 
zele were still single, and John Davis, now a gallant 
sea-captain, was able to renew the happy friendships of 
his boyish days. The visits to Bozomzele bore fruit. 
The parish register at Stoke Gabriel records the mar- 
riage of John Davis and Faith Fulford on September 
29, 1582, and the fact that John Davis had a child 
christened Gilbert on the 27th of March 1583. The 
other Miss Fulfords were married in the neighbourhood, 
Anne to Master English of Totnes, Elizabeth to Thomas 
Gary of Gary Barton, and Cecilia to Master Adams of 



12 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1550-83. 

Wadditon. Adrian Gilbert, as we have seen, was mar- 
ried to the sister-in-law of Davis's wife. 

The spirit-stirring discourses of Sir Humphrey Gil- 
bert, followed so quickly by his glorious death at sea, 
must have made a deep impression on his brother and 
on Davis. They too were filled with the desire to extend 
the trade and power of England through discoveries in 
unknown regions, and especially by the solution of the 
North- West Passage problem. As early as 1 5 7 9 they had 
made the acquaintance of the famous philosopher at 
Mortlake, and had discussed with him the prospects of 
a Northern voyage of discovery. Dr. Dee mentions in 
his journal that on June 3, 1580, " Mr. Adrian Gilbert 
and John Davys rode homeward into Devonshire," after 
having had conferences with the learned mathematician 
on subjects in which they were all deeply interested. 
This was before the last voyage of Humphrey Gilbert, 
and his death only inspired the friends with fresh zeal 
to fulfil his wishes, and take up the ^reat work where 
he had left it. Sir Walter Raleigh joined them, not 
only with sympathy and encouragement, but with more 
substantial aid. Thus were the comrades who had 
shared in many a boyish adventure along the banks of 
the Dart, and who had passed so many happy days of 
their youth speculating on the wondei-s of foreign coun- 
tries, now joined together in a great and memorable 
enterprise. Then they were boys, full of inquiry and 
curiosity, who longed for the time when they too might 
add to the renown of England. Their early enthusiasm, 
aided by capacity for hard work and the desire to do 
well, had borne rich fruit. Now they were qualified to 
become the pioneers of English discovery in the Arctic 
Regions. 



CHAPTER II. 

PREPARATIONS FOR THE NORTH. 

The house of Dr. Dee at Mortlake contained one of the 
finest private libraries then existing in England, includ- 
ing valuable manuscripts, maps, and charts, while among 
instruments was the cross-staff used by Chancellor in 
his famous voyage to the White Sea. Here the philo- 
sopher was frequently visited by sea-captains and men 
about to undertake distant enterprises, and he was con- 
sulted by statesmen as well as by the Queen herself. He 
drew up a memoir on her Majesty's right to Norum- 
bega and to the unknown parts adjacent, and in 1583 
he had prepared a learned report on the reform of the 
calendar. 

On the 23rd of January 1584 two men were sitting 
in the library at Mortlake engaged in earnest conver- 
sation. One was in the prime of life, tall and hand- 
some, with an eager, intelligent countenance, and 
equipped for a journey. The other was an elderly 
man, with a long beard as white as milk, and a clear, 
sanguine complexion, dressed in a loose gown with 
hanging sleeves. His eyes were unnaturally bright 
and wandering, as if they were used to peer into 
occult and forbidden mysteries. Dr. Dee and Adrian 
Gilbert were deep in the consideration of the new pro- 



14 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1583. 

ject for Arctic discovery, when a visitor was announced. 
It was the Secretary of State, Sir Francis Walsingham, 
who had called on his way down the river to Greenwich. 
Walsingham was a sedate and cautious man, yet he 
became so interested in the conversation when it was 
continued in his presence, that he expressed a desire to 
hear the subject of Northern discovery discussed before 
him in all its bearings. It was arranged that there 
should be a meeting at the house of Mr. Beale, a mutual 
friend, on the very next day. Accordingly, Dr. Dee, 
Adrian Gilbert, and John Davis met the Secretary of 
State on the 24th of January in an interview where, 
as Dr. Dee tells us, " only we four were secret, and we 
made Mr. Secretary privie of the North- West Passage, 
and all charts and rutters were agreed upon in general." 
In other words, the experienced sailor and his friend, 
with the help of the profound mathematician and cos- 
mographer, placed before the statesman the then exist- 
ing knowledge of the northern regions derived from 
the results of former voyages, and thus enabled him to 
grasp the subject, and come to a conclusion respecting 
the wisdom of undertaking such an enterprise. If we 
now take a similar review of what had been done before 
the voyage of Davis, we shall be able to understand the 
point of view from which the great navigator and his 
supporters arranged their plans and based their hopes 
of success, as well as the grounds on which they obtained 
the support of Sir Francis Walsingham. 

Our Elizabethan ancestors knew nothing of the sagas 
of the Norsemen, which were brought to light by Pro- 
fessor Rafn in our time, and showed that Greenland 
and the eastern coast of North America were visited 
and colonised from Iceland several centuries before the 



1585] 



PKEPAKATIONS FOR THE NORTH. 



15 



first voyage of Columbus. They had dim traditions of 
the wonderful discovery made by Friar Nicholas of Lynn, 
and of voyages to Iceland from Lynn and Bristol ; but 
no positive information could be derived from these 
stories. Nor were the more recent voyages of John and 
Sebastian Cabot of much more use. For the charts 
and papers of Sebastian had been taken from him in the 
time of Queen Mary, and intrusted to a certain Master 
Worthington, who probably handed them over to Philip 




FROM CABOT'S MAPS. 



of Spain. All that was accessible in England was com- 
prised in the famous mappemonde drawn by Sebastian 
Cabot himself, a copy of which, executed by Clement 
Adams, was hung up in the privy gallery at Whitehall. 
It showed the *' Prima Vista " of Cape Breton, being 
the first land seen by John Cabot in 1497, the land of 
Bacalhaos or Newfoundland, and the coast of Labrador 
to about 60° N. A knowledge of these coasts had been 
improved by subsequent voyagers. In 1500 the Por- 



16 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1583. 

tuguese navigator, Caspar de Cortereal, sailed along the 
coast of Labrador, a name derived from the natives 
jhe brought to Lisbon, who were believed to be good 
labourers. The land he visited is shown on a Portu- 
guese chart of 1504 as " Terra de Corte Eeal." The 
name of Bacalhaos (which means codfish) is given to 
Newfoundland. Estevao Gomez, in a Spanish ship, 
also made a voyage to the fisheries. Many vessels from 
England, France, Portugal, and the Basque Provinces 
of Spain, following these pioneers, yearly undertook 
voyages to the fishery of Newfoundland; and in 1534 
Jacques Cartier discovered the insularity of Newfound- 
land by sailing through the straits of Belleisle. 

Although the voyages of the Cabots did not add 
much to a practical knowledge of the American coasts, 
the conduct of the operations of the Company of Mer- 
chant Adventurers by Sebastian Cabot in his old age 
was of essential service in advancing and opening a new 
route for English commerce. In December 155 1 Sebas- 
tian was constituted governor of this Company for life, 
and in 1553 a fleet was set forth under his supervision, 
with Sir Hugh Willoughby as admiral and Richard 
Chancellor as chief pilot. In his instructions to the 
leaders of this expedition, Cabot was the first to establish 
rules for keeping a logbook at sea. Willoughby per- 
ished miserably on the coast of Lapland with all his 
people, but not before he had discovered the coast of 
Novaya Zemlya. Owing to the absence of any means 
of fixing the longitude, this coast appeared on the charts 
for a long time as Willoughhy^s Land, between Spitz- 
bergen and Novaya Zemlya. Chancellor reached the 
White Sea and opened a trade with Russia. From 
that time ships were regularly dispatched to St. 



1585.] PREPAEATIONS FOR THE NORTH. 17 

Nicholas. The third voyage of the Muscovy Company 
in 1556 was conducted by Stephen Borough, a Devon- 
shire sailor of great ability, who discovered the entrance 
into the Kara Sea, and wintered with the Russians at 
Kholmogro. Borough also commanded the seventh 
voyage of the Merchant Adventurers in 1560; but 
from 1563 until his death in 1584, he was in the 
Queen's service as chief pilot in the Med way. His 
discovery of a strait between Novaya Zemlya and the 
mainland gave rise to projects for finding a North-East 
Passage to China, which engaged the attention of the 
Merchant Adventurers during several years. An at- 
tempt was made in 1568, of which no account has been 
preserved; and in 1580 the Company fitted out two 
vessels, commanded by Arthur Pet and Charles Jack- 
man. The former passed through the strait into the 
Kara Sea, and made several attempts to penetrate the 
heavy pack-ice and reach the mouth of the river Ob. 
Jackman and his ship were never heard of again, and 
Pet returned with a report on the reasons of his failure. 
The disappointing result of Pet's voyage caused the 
abandonment of attempts in that direction, and con- 
centrated the attention of explorers on a passage by 
the north-west ; although Anthony Jenkinson continued 
to advocate a North-Eastern Passage. 

The four able men who were considering the subject 
with close attention in Mr. Beale's house on that Janu- 
ary afternoon three hundred and five years ago would, 
therefore, have turned away from the eastern parts to 
take stock of what was known respecting the routes 
on the American side. In those days great importance 
was attached to a curious map, with an accompanying 
narrative, published at Venice in the year 1558. The 

B 



18 



LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. 



C1583. 



history of this map, which long misled our navigators, 
is interesting. 

Nicolo Zeno, the representative of one of the noblest 
and most ancient families in Venice, was born in the 
year 15 15, and he appears to have succeeded to the 
property, including the Zeni Palace and its archives, 
when he was very young. He says that he was but 




THE ZENI MAP. 



a child when the papers of his ancestors fell into his 
hands, and that he, not knowing what they were, " tore 
them in pieces, as children will do, and sent them all to 
ruin." In after years he looked over some fragments 
that remained, and found them to be family records of 
the deepest interest. Ever afterwards he looked back 
upon the destructiveness of his childhood with the 



1585.] PREPAKATIONS FOR THE NORTH. 19 

greatest sorrow. In the fourteenth century the family 
was represented by three brothers, Nicolo, Antonio, and 
Carlo. Nicolo went on a voyage of curiosity into the 
northern seas, and was wrecked on an island which he 
called Frislanda in 1390. He was befriended by a 
chief named Zichmni, into whose service he entered as 
pilot of his fleet, and wrote to his brother Antonio to 
join him. Antonio reached the distant Northern land, 
lived there with his brother Nicolo for four years, re- 
mained ten years after Nicolo's death, and then returned 
to Yenice, where he died. During his absence Antonio 
wrote letters to the third brother, Carlo. 

It was these precious letters which the younger Nicol6, 
a hundred and fifty years afterwards, tore up during his 
childhood. The fi-agments he recovered in after years 
were parts of the letter from Nicolo the elder to Antonio, 
and of the letters from Antonio to Carlo, as well as a map 
rotten with age and damp. The letters give an account 
of a visit of Nicol6 Zeno to a land he calls Greenland, 
and information derived from fishermen respecting dis- 
tant western lands called Drogeo and Estotiland. The 
younger Nicolo strove to repair the errors of his mis- 
chievous childhood by preparing these surviving frag- 
ments for the press. He also made a copy of the 
decaying map, adding his own conjectural emendations 
where the original could not be deciphered. This 
compilation was published at Yenice by Nicolo Zeno 
in 1558. 

The misleading map of Nicolo Zeno became a docu- 
ment of great importance, and its errors more or less 
influenced cartographers for at least a century. Green- 
land, called Engroneland, Tramontana, and Grolandia, 
is here connected with Norway, and in the bay thus 



20 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1583. 

formed a large island called Islanda is placed, rather 
to the north of the latitude of Iceland. Due south of 
Islanda there is another large island called Frisland; 
and half way between Frisland and the south point of 
Engroneland a third island of considerable size is placed, 
called Icaria. At the western extreme of the map, in 
the same latitude as Frisland, Estotiland appears, and 
Drogeo is in the S.W. corner of the map. These two 
latter names were very generally assumed to be New- 
foundland, and the " Prima Vista " of Cabot. Islanda, of 
course, was Iceland, and the outline of Greenland is not 
very incorrectly drawn. But the two islands of Fris- 
land and Icaria were very puzzling to the Elizabethan 
cosmographers. There was certainly no such island as 
Frisland of the size and in the position where it is 
placed on Zeno's map. It was accordingly shifted farther 
to the west, where it appeared in numerous charts ; the 
Greenland coast was occasionally mistaken for it, and it 
was a source of endless confusion. 

The geographers at Mr. Beale's house would have 
called Walsingham's attention from a study of the 
narrative and map of the Zeni to a consideration of 
the much more recent voyages of Martin Frobisher, the 
first of which was commenced simultaneously with the 
appearance of Sir Humphrey Gilbert's discourse of a 
North-West Passage. Except Frobisher himself, and 
Michael Lok, his chief helper and adviser, no one was 
better able to narrate the history of Frobisher's enter- 
prises than Dr. Dee, who was constantly consulted, and 
who gave instruction to the officers selected to serve in 
the expedition, in navigation and nautical astronomy, as 
it was then understood. Frobisher had entertained the 
idea of discovering a North-West Passage for many 



1585] PEEPAEATIONS FOE THE NORTH. 21 

years, but it was not until he had secured the aid of 
Michael Lok, an influential merchant and an indefati- 
gable geographer, that he was in a position to fit out an 
expedition. 

Two new vessels, of about twenty tons burden, called 
the Gabriel and the Michael, having been supplied with 
necessaries and with a crew of thirty-five men and boys, 
bold Martin Frobisher set sail from Blackwall on the 
7th of June 1576, and shaped a course for the Shetland 
Islands. But meeting with a gale of wind, the Michael 
deserted her consort, and returned home with a false 
report that the Gabriel had gone down in a terrible 
storm. Frobisher pushed onwards, and came in sight 
of land which he supposed to be the Frisland of Zeno's 
map ; but he could not approach owing to the quantity 
of ice which was pressed upon it. After encountering a 
furious gale and heavy sea, in which the little Gabriel 
was nearly lost, he persevered for some days in a westerly 
course, and on the 20th of July high land was sighted, 
which Jbe named Queen Elizabeth's Foreland. Here 
much ice was again encountered, and as the ship was 
detained oflt an inlet between two headlands, Frobisher 
determined to explore it. He was under the impression 
that the coast on<>one side of this inlet was America, and 
that the land on the other side was the continent of Asia. 
He gave the name of Frobisher's Strait to his discovery, 
and returned to England in October. The first land he 
saw must have been the east coast of Greenland, near 
Cape Farewell; and sailing across the channel which 
was destined to bear the name of Davis, he reached his 
inlet on its western shore. LUnluckily one of the crew 
brought home a shining piece of mica, which was be- 
lieved to be gold ore. " This kindled a great opinion in 



22 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1583. 

the hearts of many to advance the voyage again," and 
thus the interests of geography were lost sight of in this 
foolish quest for mineral wealth. 

A company was formed, a charter was granted to 
Michael Lok and Martin Frobisher, and a second expe- 
dition was soon ready for sea. It consisted of three 
vessels — the Aid^ of 240 tons, lent by the Queen, the 
Michael^ and Gabriel. On board the Aid were the 
admiral himself, Martin Frobisher, his lieutenant, 
Greorge Best, who was the historian of the voyage, and 
Christopher Hall, the master. The Gabriel was com- 
manded by Edward Fen ton, with William Smyth as 
master, and the Michael by Gilbert Yorke. Sailing in 
June 1577, they sighted the same coast which had been 
taken for Frisland in the former voyage, early in July. 
Frobisher made several ineffectual attempts to force his 
way through the ice in a boat and effect a landing. He 
was baffled by dense fogs, and on the 8th of July the 
voyage was resumed. It is curious that Frobisher 's 
officers should have found this rugged and inaccessible 
coast to agree very well with the island of Frisland as 
described by Zeno in his narrative and shown on his 
map. Leaving it, the expedition steered westward, and 
reached the inlet called Frobisher's Strait on the 17th 
of July. There was a good deal of intercourse with the 
Eskimos, but all exploring work was abandoned for the 
sake of the search for ores, and this second expedition 
returned without adding anything to geographical know- 
ledge. The Queen gate the name of " Meta Incognita'* 
to the land discovered by Frobisher. 

The reports of the assayers who examined the stones 
that were brought home still further excited the cupidity 
of speculators. A third expedition was fitted out on a 



1585.] PEEPAKATIONS FOR THE NORTH. 23 

large scale, and it was actually intended to leave a 
colony of a hundred men tq^wafcch over the imaginary 
ores of " Meta Incognita." / A fleet of fifteen sail was 
assembled at Harwich on the 27th of May 1578, in- 
cluding the Aidj commanded by Frobisher himself; 
the Jadith, Captain Fenton ; the Thomas Allen, Captain 
Yorke ; the Ann Frances, Captain Best ; the Moon, the 
Gabriel, and Michael, and the Emma, a- buss of Bridge- 
water. This time Frobisher took the route down 
Channel, and sighted his supposed Frisland on the 20th 
of June, to which he gave the name of " West England." 
He succeeded in effecting a landing, and took possession 
in the name of the Queen. Natives were seen, with 
dogs and tents, closely resembling those of " Meta Incog- 
nita." This gave rise to the suspicion among some of 
the officers that the so-called Frisland was really the 
mainland of Greenland. They also conjectured that 
" Meta Incognita " and Greenland might be connected 
by a coast-line forming a deep bay. The great numbers 
of icebergs would not be met with, they thought, if there 
was an open sea to the north. Thus we see the sound 
natural sense of practical mariners struggling against 
the errors and absurdities of Zeno's map. 

" Meta Incognita" was reached on the 23rd of June, 
there being a fair wind across the channel, and as the 
lofty mountains of Greenland, \N'hich Frobisher believed 
to be Frisland, and called '' West England," faded from 
view, the last peak that was in sight received the name 
of "Charing Cross," "from a certain similitude." Yery 
bad weather was encountered off Frobisher 's Inlet, and 
the expedition was a complete failure ; but one of the 
vessels, the little buss of Bridgewater, added to the 
confusion of existing maps by the report of her captain 



24 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1583. 

touching another imaginary island. He declared that he 
had sighted a great island to the south-east of Frisland, 
and sailed three days along the coast, the land seeming 
to be fruitful, full of woods, and a champaign country. 
Accordingly one more island, called " The Land of Buss," 
appeared on charts of the North Atlantic, to increase 
the confusion caused by Nicolo Zeno. Many a sailor, 
in the years to come, kept a fruitless and anxious look- 
out for *' the sunken land of Busse." Frobisher returned 
in October 1578, having lost forty men during the voyage. 
Unfortunately he abandoned his real work for the search 
of imaginary gold ore, and all his gallant efforts were 
wasted. The question was still unsolved, and his work 
remained undone. The misunderstood discoveries of 
Frobisher added to the perplexities of the Zeno map. 

If we remember that our ancestors laboured under 
great dijOBiculties in ascertaining the longitude of any 
position, it will easily be seen that it was only by very 
sagacious reasoning from several points of view that 
an error could be detected. Accepting Frobisher's own 
belief that the first laud he sighted was Frisland, and 
relying on the map of Zeno, the conclusion at which 
Davis and his friends arrived was inevitable. After 
leaving Frisland, the next land Frobisher came to would, 
according to these data, be Greenland. Consequently 
Davis looked upon Frobisher's Inlet as a strait through 
the southern part of Greenland. Looking farther west, 
he saw the open channel on Zeno's map to the west of 
Greenland, only bounded to the west by Estotiland, 
which was generally accepted as Newfoundland. A 
coast-line was believed to extend farther north, which 
had been partially examined by Cabot, and afterwards 
by Cortereal and other Portuguese some years later. 



1585.] PREPAKATIONS FOR THE NORTH. 25 

This was the coast of Labrador. It was to the wide 
channel between the west side of Greenland and the 
Labrador coast that the attention of Davis and his 
friends was turned, as an important route for future 
discovery. As Frobisher's Strait was assumed to be 
on the eastern side of this channel, the information 
collected during the three voyages commanded by Sir 
Martin Frobisher appeared to furnish no guidance to 
explorers intending to adopt a more western route, 
except as regards the general remarks on the nature 
and position of the ice. It is right to observe that this 
does not appear to have been the view of Michael Lok, 
or of Frobisher himself. In the map published by Lok, 
Frobisher's Strait is shown as the actual North-West 
Passage, although a study of the narratives fully justi- 
fied the conclusion of Davis, 

Eespectful attention would certainly have been given 
to that famous discourse on the North-West Passage 
by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, which saw the light at the 
time when Frobisher's first expedition left the Thames. 
To the four men who sat in council at Mr. Beale's house 
it would have seemed like a voice from the dead — as a 
call to duty from one of England's most illustrious sons. 
It was a learned and eloquent state paper. Gilbert's 
argument was that America was an island, widely sepa- 
rated by oceans from any other continent, and that con- 
sequently it could be circumnavigated. He referred to 
the description of Atlantis in the "Critias" and "Timseus" 
of Plato, and argued that the great island of Egyptian 
tradition could be no other than America : an opinion 
which he shared with the most eminent cosmographers 
of the continent, including Sebastian Mtinster of Ingel- 
heim, Apianus of Leipsig, Gemma Frisius, and Ortelius. 



26 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1583. 

He then alluded to the voyage of Other along the north- 
east coast of Europe, as described in the translation of 
Orosius by King Alfred, in order to show how the route 
taken by the ancient navigator had been rediscovered 
by Englishmen centuries afterwards, who, in his day, 
were accustomed to make annual voyages to the White 
Sea. These observant seamen had described the cur- 
rents and the accumulations of ice in the Kara Sea, 
and their reports led Gilbert to the conclusion that a 
voyage by the north-west would be a shorter and easier 
route to Cathay and India. 

In considering the route along the north coast of 
America, Sir Humphrey collected all available evidence 
respecting the distance between America and Asia. He 
quoted from Gomara, the Spanish historian, who de- 
clared both America and Greenland to be islands; and 
strengthened his arguments by the evidence of Chinese 
geographers, who affirmed that their coast-line trended 
to the north-east as far as 50° N. These conclusions 
respecting the insular character of America were con-_ 
firmed in part by Jacques Cartier, the French discoverer 
of Canada, and by Nonnius, the great Portuguese geo- 
grapher. 

Gilbert next appealed to the evidence of Sebastian 
Cabot, who was remembered by many then living. 
Cabot described the passage on his charts, which were 
to be seen in those days in the Queen's privy gallery at 
Whitehall. Cabot is also said by Sir Humphrey Gilbert 
to have affirmed that he reached the latitude of 67° 30' 
N. along the coast of Labrador, where the sea was still 
open, and that he would have completed the voyage to 
Cathay if he had not been prevented by a mutiny in 
his ship. Gilbert believed the reports that the passage 



1585.1 PEEPAKATIONS FOE THE NOKTH. 27 

had actually been made. Pliny, quoting from Cornelius 
Nepos, mentions the arrival of Indians on the coast of 
Germany, who were presented to the Roman proconsul 
of Gaul, Quintus Metellus Celer, by the King of Sue via. 
Moreover, in 11 60, during the reign of Frederick Bar- 
barossa, certain other Indians arrived on the coast of 
Germany. Gilbert discussed the various routes by which 
they might have come, and decided in favour of the 
North- West Passage. Gemma Frisius had affirmed that 
three brethren had actually sailed through the strait; a 
friar of Mexico, named Urdaneta, whose chart had been 
seen by gentlemen of good credit, also claimed to have 
made the passage. It had been attempted by Cabot 
and by the Portuguese Cortereal, the Labrador coast 
being known certainly as far as 62° N., and the west 
coast of Greenland being supposed to extend to 72° N. 
The discourse of Sir Humphrey Gilbert reviewed all 
these stories and reports, discussed the question of cur- 
rents, and concluded with an eloquent peroration on the 
importance of discovering a shorter route to India and 
Cathay, and on the patriotic duty which called upon 
Englishmen to undertake it. 

The discourse had been more than ten years before 
the world at the date of Walsingham's conference with 
the geographers, but it had lost none of its freshness 
and persuasive earnestness. It had the true ring in it, 
and was one of the most valuable of the documents to 
be considered. ^ 

There were also recent maps and charts of import- 
ance. The great map of . Mercator was published in 
1569, and was the result of the careful study of nume- 
rous maps and charts now lost to us. On Mercator 's 
map the coast of Labrador is shown with some approach 



28 



LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. 



[1583. 



to accuracy, and is called " Terra Corterealis." He 
makes its eastern coast run from 53° to 60° N., and 
shows the entrance to Hudson's Strait and Ungava Bay. 
His new information appears, from the names, to have 




ORTELIUS. 

16 70. 



AECTIC MAP FBOM ATLAS OF OliTELIUS. 



been derived from Portuguese sources. The atlas of 
Ortelius was published in 1570. 

Walsingham was a statesman of enlightened views, 
and he had always been favourable t® voyages of dis- 
covery. The thorough examination of all the arguments, 
in his conference with Dr. Dee and his friends, had the 



1585.] PREPAEATIONS FOR THE NORTH. 29 

effect of confirming his former opinion, and of securing 
a powerful friend to the projected undertaking. He 
was fully alive to the value of a route to the Indies 
which would be free from Spanish or Portuguese claims ; 
but he also desired to foster the spirit of enterprise in 
his countrymen, and to encourage all voyages which 
were calculated to serve as training-grounds for hardy 
and expert seamen. Such a policy is the true policy of 
this country, and statesmen worthy of the name have 
recognised its importance. In time of peace the attitude 
of an Administration with regard to Polar exploration is 
an infallible test of its worth and patriotism. Cecil and 
Walsingham were alike able and patriotic, and in their 
days Polar discovery received hearty encouragement. 
When the conference at Mr. Beale's house broke up, 
official countenance and good-will had been secured for 
the contemplated expedition. 

The next point was to interest the wealthy merchants 
of the City of London in the new attempt to discover a 
shorter route to Cathay. On the 6th of March John 
Davis and Adrian Gilbert had an interview with several 
City magnates, and set forth the commercial importance 
of the enterprise. Alderman Barne, who was Lord 
Mayor in 1586, Mr. Towerson, Mr. Yonge, and Mr. 
Thomas Hudson were the merchants to whom Dr. Deo 
introduced his friends. The meeting probably took place 
at Mr. Hudson's house at Mortlake— a circumstance of 
peculiar interest to Arctic students ; for Thomas Hud- 
son is believed, on good grounds, to have been the uncle 
and guardian of the great navigator, Henry Hudson; 
so that it is quite possible that the young Henry may 
have been present when his illustrious predecessor in 
Arctic discovery met the merchants in his uncle's house, 



30 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1583. 

and may have listened with intense interest to the 
address in which Davis explained his plans. 

Having sown good seed in this interview with the 
merchants of London, Davis and Gilbert did not allow 
the grass to grow beneath their feet. On the 17 th they 
lodged at the house of Mr. Radforth in Chelsea, and 
next day they set out on the long ride to Devonshire. 
Their object was to induce the merchants of Exeter and 
their own neighbours at Dartmouth to join the enter- 
prise. They were fairly successful. Subscriptions were 
obtained at both places; but an event occurred while 
they were still in the West country which threatened to 
derange their plans. 

This was the loss of Dr. Dee's advice, owing to his 
unexpected departure from England. The philosopher 
of Mortlake, although his learning was sound and ex- 
tensive, was the victim of spiritualistic delusions. He 
became more and more absorbed in chemical experi- 
ments to find the philosopher's stone and in imagi- 
nary intercourse with angels. He possessed a crystal 
globe with miraculous powers. During his labours in 
the cause of maritime discovery in concert with Davis 
and Gilbert, he was already deep in the study of for- 
bidden arts. In March 1582 he engaged a medium who 
could communicate with spirits by means of the crystal 
globe. At about the same time Dr. Dee made the 
acquaintance of Albert Laski, a Bohemian nobleman, 
who proposed that both the philosopher and his medium 
should return with him to his country, where they would 
be furnished with ample means for continuing their 
mysterious researches. Dee, whose expensive pursuits 
had loaded him with debt, accepted the offer, and in 
September 1583 he left Mortlake privately and em- 



1585.] PEEPAEATIONS FOR THE NORTH. 31 

barked for the continent. On his departure, a mob 
broke into his house and destroyed a great part of his 
library, believing him to be a magician whose dealings 
were with the evil one. 

This sudden disappearance of their influential friend 
must have caused considerable anxiety and consternation 
in the minds of the pa,rtners at Sandridge. But they 
were not dismayed. Gilbert's half-brother was at the 
height of his influence at court, and when they turned 
to him for help in their need, they were met more than 
half-way. Sir Walter Raleigh entered into their plans 
with characteristic ardour. He received the honour of 
knighthood in the end of 1584. He was rapidly becom- 
ing wealthy through the lucrative appointments and 
gifts conferred upon him by the Queen, and he spent 
his fortune nobly in schemes for the advancement of 
commerce and the promotion of discovery. He induced 
the Queen to grant a charter in the names of himself, 
Adrian Gilbert, and John Davis " for the search and 
discoverie of the North- West Passage to China." Thus 
were the three boys who had so often rowed and sailed 
on the Dart together, and who had listened eagerly to 
the stories of sailors on Dartmouth wharf, now asso- 
ciated as grown men, to make their own great effort for 
their country's glory. Baleigh himself mainly devoted 
his energies to the equipment of the expeditions to Vir- 
ginia, dispatched in the same years as those which saw 
the discoveries of Davis. But Raleigh was not absorbed 
by his Virginian schemes. He found time to give most 
efiicient aid to his old schoolfellows. 

The most useful help, due to the friendship of Sir 
Walter, was the recommendation of his associates to the 
good offices of Master William Sanderson. This eminent 



32 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1583. 

merchant was one of the most liberal and enlightened 
adventurers of his time. In those days there were men 
to be found in abundance who were willing to spend 
their profits lavishly on public objects^ and especially on 
promoting maritime discovery. Sanderson was a mer- 
chant of great wealthy and he was married to a niece of 
Sir Walter Raleigh. Before embarking on the venture 
of Gilbert and Davis, he carefully studied the subject in 
all its bearings, and, with other information, a discourse 
on voyages to the north-east between 1553 and 1583 
was prepared for him by Mr. Henry Lane. The result 
of his deliberations was, that he resolved to give liberal 
support to the proposed expedition. He superintended 
all the preparations, advanced the largest share of the 
funds, and his relative, Mr. John Janes, went out as 
supercargo to represent the great merchant's interests. 

In the spring of 1585 John Davis was busily engaged 
in the work of fitting out his expedition at Dartmouth. 
It was a memorable year. In 1585 the Queen hurled 
defiance at Philip of Spain, and resolved to assist the 
people of the Netherlands in their struggle for freedom. 
In 1585 Haleigh sent out his first expedition, and gave 
the name of Yirginia to the coast he was resolved to 
colonise; so that it was the remote birth-year of the 
great American Eepublic. In 1585 the first English- 
men arrived in India. In 1585 Raleigh's former play- 
fellow realised the wildest dreams of his boyhood. He 
was to be the leader of an attempt to make discoveries 
beyond the great ocean, for the glory of his native land. 
Living at Sandridge, and actively assisted by his neigh- 
bour and lifelong friend, Adrian Gilbert, the work at 
Dartmouth was actively pushed forward. 

The expedition consisted of two small vessels, the Surir 



1585.] PREPARATIONS FOR THE NORTH. 33 

shine of London, of fifty tons, and the Moonshine, bnilt at 
Dartmouth, of only thirty-ljve tons. By the beginning 
of June they were ready for sea. Davis commanded 
the Sunshine, with William Eston and Richard Pope as 
his master and master's mate, Henry Davy and William 
Crosse as gunner and boatswain, and Mr. John Janes 
as merchant and supercargo. The crew consisted of a 
carpenter, eleven seamen, four musicians, and a boy. 
The Moonshine was commanded by William Bruton, 
with John Ellis as master. 

On the 7th of June 1585 the two ships sailed out of 
Dartmouth harbour on their daring voyage to discover 
a route to China and India by the north-west. It was 
a private venture, undertaken by merchants of London 
and Exeter under the lead of Master Sanderson, but it 
was dispatched to secure great national objects, and it 
was under the direct patronage of Sir Francis Walsing- 
ham, the Secretary of State, and of Sir Walter Raleigh. 
John Davis was the right man to command such an 
expedition — "a man very well grounded in the prin- 
ciples of the art of navigation," as Mr. Janes described 
him, full of enthusiasm, brave and daring, but prudent 
and cautious. As he passed the church of St. Petrox, 
and waved his last farewell to Adrian Gilbert and his 
other friends, how vividly must the daydreams of his 
boyhood have returned to him ! He must have remem- 
bered how often he had sat with Raleigh and the 
Gilberts on that very parapet of St. Petrox, and longed 
for the time to come when he too could sail away to 
discover unknown lands. At last the time had come ! 



CHAPTEE IIL 

THE FIRST AND SECOND ARCTIC VOYAGES. 

John" Davis was in the prime of life, just entering 
upon his thirty-sixth year, when he sailed out of Dart- 
mouth harbour in command of the Sanshine and Moon- 
shine. Brought up under excellent influences at his 
lovely home on the banks of the Dart, enjoying the 
companionship of kindred spirits, and drinking in the 
love of adventure from his earliest boyhood, he entered 
upon the profession of the sea with great advantages. 
His studies at school, probably at Totnes, had given him 
some classical knowledge, and he had a natural bent for 
mathematics and nautical science. He had now been 
some twenty years at sea, and was accounted one of the 
most experienced and accomplished seamen of his time. 
Besides his old play-fellows, Raleigh and the Gilberts, 
he had formed many friendships in the West Country, 
chief among them being that of the adventurous Master 
Chudleigh of Broad Clyst, who warmly sympathised in 
his aspirations, and was himself destined to lead forth 
an expedition and to become a martyr to science. Sir 
Francis Walsingham, Secretary of State, Sir Edward 
Dyer, afterwards Chancellor of the Garter, the Earl of 
Warwick, who was Master- General of the Ordnance, and 

SI 




v. 






1585-86.] FIKST AND SECOND ARCTIC VOYAGES. 35 

Mr. William Sanderson were his patrons. Young stu- 
dents of rank at the universities, who were interested 
in cosmography and the mathematics, had sought the 
society of the famous seaman; among whom were 
George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, and young Lords 
Lumley and Darcy of Chiche. In recent years Davis 
had become well known, and had formed many valuable 
acquaintances, who all wished him God-speed. He left 
behind him, in his home at Sandridge, a wife and little 
boy, surrounded by friendly neighbours, several of 
whom were near relations. All seemed to prosper with 
him. This was the turning-point of his destiny, and he 
knew how to seize the right moment. Ably and zealously 
assisted by loving friends, it was to his own perseverance 
and energy that the dispatch of the expedition was 
mainly due. He was resolute and brave, skilled and ex- 
perienced in all a sailor's art, and full of enthusiasm. 
At the same time Davis was a God-fearing man, gentle 
and courteous, considerate and thoughtful of the welfare 
of his crew, and beloved by his men — a very perfect 
specimen of an English sailor of the days of the great 
Queen. 

On the first day at sea, the captain, in consultation 
with the master, formed the crew into messes and 
arranged the scale of provisions. In the small cabin of 
the Sunshine — a little vessel of fifty tons — there was a 
mess consisting of seven persons. Here the captain had 
his charts and instruments, his globe, with the aid of 
which he worked out most of his nautical problems, and 
his few books. William Eston, the master, was an 
experienced seaman, devoted to his chief, and doubtless 
an old shipmate. His mate was named Richard Pope. 
"i&x. John Janes, a nephew of Master William Sander- 



36 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1585. 

son, came on board as merchant, to watch the interests 
of the adventurers. He formed a close friendship with 
Captain Davis, and assisted him in his calculations. 
Henry Davy, the gunner, appears to have been an 
Exeter man. His namesake, John Davy, served the 
office of mayor of Exeter in 1584, and was mortgagee 
of some of the property of Davis's friend Chudleigh. 
William Cross, the boatswain, and Hobert Wats, the 
carpenter, completed the number of seven officers. Many 
a night at sea must these earnest explorers have pored 
over the charts, listened eagerly to the explanations of 
their chief, and discussed the chances of success. They 
were waited upon by the only boy in the ship, young 
Kit Gurney. 

The seamen were told off into two messes, five in 
each, and there was another mess of one seaman and 
four musicians, who had been engaged to entice and 
secure the good-will of any savages that might be met 
with on the voyage. One of the seamen may probably 
have been the son of his namesake, John Ellis, master 
of the Moonshine. Another, Luke Adams, was a young 
apprentice, related to the owner of Wadditon, the next 
estate to Sandridge, who married a sister-in-law of 
Captain Davis. 

Captain Davis and Master Eston surveyed the whole 
stock of provisions, and carefully calculated how long 
they would last. They consisted of cod and salt meat, 
bread and pease, butter and cheese, with beer. The 
clothing was entirely woollen, and adapted for the cold 
weather; and in all respects thought had been taken 
for the comfort of the men by their generous employer. 
Master William Sanderson. 

A strong south-west wind obliged the two vessels to 



1586.] FIEST AND SECOND ARCTIC VOYAGES. 37 

take shelter in Falmouth harbour for five days. They 
made sail before a northerly breeze on the 13th of June, 
but the wind again shifted, and Captain Davis anchored 
at the Scilly Islands until there should be a fair wind for 
Greenland. He was detained for twelve days, and, ever 
anxious to perform useful work whenever an opportunity 
offered, he employed his time in making a survey of the 
Scilly Islands. Accompanied by the master and Mr. 
Janes, he visited every part of the group in his boat, plot- 
ting and describing the positions of all the islands, rocks, 
and anchorages, and making a regular survey for the 
use of navigators. Davis was thus usefully employed 
until the 28th, when the expedition weighed and made 
sail before a light easterly breeze, for the voyage acrpss 
the ocean. On the two following days they were hin- 
dered by a dense fog ; but on the ist of July they were 
well out on the Atlantic, with a clear horizon and a 
school of porpoises playing round the ship. To many 
on board this was a novel sight, and when the master 
sent for his harpoon, and began to throw it, as the por- 
poises sported past the ship within range, there was 
great excitement. He missed them several times, but 
at last the iron went home ; the crew manned the linej 
and the porpoise was hauled on to the deck. Mr. Eston 
pronounced it to be a " darlie-head," and, whatever it 
was, the flesh was served out next day, and was con- 
sidered to be as good as mutton. On the 3rd, the 
monsters of the deep promised still better sport, and the 
master succeeded in striking one of them ; but the crea- 
ture was so strong that it went off with harpoon, line, 
and all, disappointing their hopes and spoiling their 
fun. Then they tried the boat-hook, but all was of no 
use, and at last they gave it up, and allowed the great 



88 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1585. 

porpoises to play around them in peace. The -number 
of whales seen during the rest of the voyage across the 
Atlantic would be considered extraordinary now. But 
in those days the Balcena Biscayensis had not yet boen 
hunted almost to extinction. Not only were these 
great whales, which were provided with whalebone, and 
differed very slightly from the B. Mystieetus of the 
Polar seas, often met with in the Atlantic, but they 
frequented the coasts of the Bay of Biscay, and were 
hunted in boats from the villages of Biscay and Gui- 
puzcoa. It is many years since those villages were 
enriched by the bone and oil of the Biscayan whales, 
but they still occur in municipal coats of arms, and the 
old harpoons, long since disused, still hang on the walls 
of houses whose owners have been fishermen for genera- 
tions. In the days of Davis, the Basque sailors throve 
on the whale-fishery, and " great store of whales " was 
seen by those who crossed the Atlantic. 

At the end of three weeks the coast of Greenland 
was very near. On the 19th of July, the sea being 
calm and a dense mist obstructing the view, " a mighty 
great roaring " was heard. The captain of the Moon- 
shine was ordered to hoist his boat out and go ahead 
to sound, but there was no bottom at 300 fathoms, 
though the noise was like the breaking of waves on a 
beach. Then Davis, taking Master Eston and Janes 
with him, and ordering the gunner to fire a musket as 
a signal to show the ship's position at the end of every 
half-hour, pulled away in the direction of the mysteri- 
ous noise. He soon found that the ships were close 
to a stream of pack-ice, and that the noise was caused 
by the large pieces grinding together. He returned 
before nightfall, with his boat laden with ice, which 



1586.1 FIRST AND SECOND ARCTIC VOYAGES. 39 

made excellent fresh water. Next day the fog rose, 
and the rugged mountains of Greenland, covered with 
snow, stood out before them, a wide extent of pack-ice 
intervening between the ships and the shore. Davis 
called it the " Land of Desolation," for, as he said, " the 
irksome noise of the ice and the loathsome view of the 
shore bred strange conceits among us." He had pro- 
bably reached the east coast somewhere near Cape Dis- 
cord. Being almost beset, Davis shaped a southerly 
course and got clear of the pack. On the 22nd he again 
hoisted out his boat and pulled inshore to examine the 
ice. Many seals were seen and quantities of birds were 
on the water, which induced the men to get their lines 
out, but no fish were caught. The ice prevented a close 
approach to the laud, and when the captain returned on 
board, he continued his southerly course, intending to 
round the southern point of Greenland. 

The cold had increased owing to the ships being near 
the ice, so Davis resolved, in order to encourage his 
men, to increase their allowance, every mess of five 
persons receiving half a pound of bread and a can of 
beer each morning for breakfast. Rounding the point 
afterwards called Cape Farewell by Davis, the expedi- 
tion lost sight of land and steered to the north-west for 
four days, hoping to discover the passage. Davis knew 
that he was well to the westward of Frisland, that he 
had rounded the south point of Greenland, and that he 
was in the channel shown by Mercator to exist between 
Greenland and Labrador. On the 29th of July he 
sighted land in 64° 15' N., and as the wind was foul 
for a north-westerly course, he bore in for it, finding it 
to consist of many islands and deep inlets. He was at 
the entrance of the fiord on the shores of which the 



40 



LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. 



[1585. 



Danish settlement of Godthaab is now situated, and he 

named the place of 
his anchorage Gilbert 
Sound, in memory of 
his friends at Green- 
way, and especially 
of his colleague and 
neighbour, Adrian. 
He had given the 
same name to his 
first-bom child. 

Captain Davis, with 
Eston and Janes, had 
landed on a small is- 
land to look for wood 
and water, when they 
saw a number of 
natives shouting and 
making signs from a 
short distance. On 
the Greenland coast 
the small granite is- 
lands are scattered 
in great numbers at 
the entrances of the 




deep 
well 



fiords, pretty 
clothed 



with 

moss, grasses, and 
wild -flowers in the 
summer-time,and em- 
bosomed in a deep blue 
sea, on which masses 



of ice float heie and there, and become distorted by refrac- 



1586.] FIRST AND SECOND AECTIC VOYAGES. 41 

tion on the horizon. Nature does not present a more 
lovely scene ; and here the explorers had their first inter- 
view with the Eskimo. Hearing the shouting and noise, 
Captain Bruton and Master Ellis, of the Moonshine^ 
manned their boat, took the four musicians on board, 
and hurried either to rescue their chief or co-operate 
in his attempt to conciliate the natives. "When they 
arrived, Captain Davis caused the musicians to play, 
while he and his companions danced and made signs of 
friendship. Ellis was appointed to go down to the 
water- side and win their confidence, in which he suc- 
ceeded by carefully imitating their signs. A good un- 
derstanding had been established before the explorers 
returned on board that night, and next morning a num- 
ber of Jcayaks were darting about round the ships, and 
natives stood on the nearest islands and made signs to 
induce their visitors to land. Again the boat went on 
shore, and perfect confidence was established. Five 
li'ayaks were purchased and specimens of native clothing ; 
the impression left on the minds of Davis and Janes 
being that the Eskimos were a tractable people, whom 
it would be easy to civilise. Great numbers of seals 
were seen, and the vegetation, consisting of dwarf 
willow and birch, and of the berry- bearing Emj'etrum 
nigrum, was observed. 

On the ist of August, the wind being fair, Davis left 
Gilbert Sound, and shaping a north-west course in pur- 
suance of his discovery, sighted the land on the opposite 
side of the channel in 66° 40' N. on the 6th. Here he 
cast anchor in a place which he called Totnes E.oad, 
while a lofty cliff overshadowing the anchorage received 
the name of Mount Raleigh. The large bay nearly sur- 
rounding Mount Raleigh was called Exeter Sound, the 



42 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1585. 

point to the north was christened Cape Dyer, and that 
to the south Cape Walsingham. The explorers had 
their first encounter with Polar bears under Mount 
E-aleigh. Four were seen from the ship, and the boat 
was quickly manned by eager sportsmen. Janes, who 
was on shore, loaded his gun with buckshot and a 
bullet, and hit one in the neck. It took to the water, 
and was killed by the boat's crew with boar- spears, 
as well as two others; and a few days afterwards 
another bear was secured after a long and exciting 
encounter. Dwarf willows were found on shore, and 
a yellow flower which they took for a primrose. It 
must have been either the Ranunculus glacialis or 
Papaver Alpinum, 

The expedition left Totnes Hoad on the 8th of 
August, and the men having complained of the insuf- 
ficiency of their food in such a climate, Captain Davis 
framed a new dietary. Each mess of five men was to 
receive four pounds of bread daily, twelve quarts of 
beer, six stock-fish, and an extra gill of peas on salt- 
meat daj^s. 

The next service performed by the expedition was the 
examination of Cumberland Gulf. The northern point 
of the entrance was named the Cape of God's Mercy, 
and the two ships went up the gulf, discovering an 
island in mid-channel. The Sunshine sailed up on one 
side of it, the Moonslnne took the other channel, and a 
very complete examination of the gulf was effected, but 
without sighting the end of it. Various indications 
inclined Davis to the belief that it was a strait, but a 
strong north-west wind obliged him to shape a course 
towards the open sea., On the 23rd of August he an- 
chored on the south shore of the gulf, and on the 26th 



IS86.] FIKST AND SECOND ARCTIC VOYAGES. 43 

he resolved to wend his way homewards, arriving at 
Dartmouth on the 30th of September. 

John Davis was not disheartened by the result of his 
first voyage. He considered that his discoveries had 
materially increased the amount of knowledge which 
must be collected before the passage was likely to be 
found, unless by some fortunate accident. On leaving 
Greenland he had steered westward, and although he had 
been stopped by a coast-line, he had discovered an open- 
ing (Cumberland Gulf) which he supposed to be the 
passage, though the season was too late to enable him 
to continue the voyage. His vessels were only pro- 
visioned for six months. He was warmly welcomed and 
encouraged by his steadfast friend, Adrian Gilbert. 
Three days after his arrival he addressed a most hope- 
ful letter to Sir Francis Walsingham. He assured the 
Secretary of State that *' the North- West Passage is a 
matter nothing doubtful, but at any tyme almost to be 
passed, the sea navigable, voyd of yse, the ayre tolerable, 
and the waters very depe." Davis also pointed out the 
trade in oil and furs that might be opened with the 
lands actually discovered. 

As soon as the explorer " could take order for his 
maryners and shipping," he hurried up to London, to 
give a personal account to the Secretary of State and to 
Mr. Sanderson, and to induce the adventurers to under- 
take a second expedition. The merchants of Devonshire 
subscribed liberally, and owned two of the ships which 
were fitted out for the new attempt. The exploring 
fleet consisted of the Mermaid (120 tons), the Sunsliine, 
Moonfihine, and a pinnace called the North Star, of ten 
tons. The conduct of the expedition was again intrusted 
to John Davis, who sailed in the Mermaid, with William 



44 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1585. 

Eston again as his master. Richard Pope, who had 
been master's mate in the former voyage, now received 
command of the Sunshine, with Mark Carter as his 
mate, and Henry Morgan as purser. Morgan was a 
servant of Mr. William Sanderson. 

Davis was more than ever impressed with the impor- 
tance of the service, and as a larger squadron had been 
intrusted to him, he resolved to attempt a more exten- 
sive examination of the unknown northern region by 
dividing his ships and sending Captain Pope on a 
separate duty. On the 7th of May 1586, the three 
exploring ships and the little pinnace sailed from Dart- 
mouth harbour for the discovery of the North-West 
Passage. Coasting along the southern shore of Ireland, 
the squadron was off Dursey Head, the northern point 
of Ban try Bay, on the nth. Tlience the General, as 
the commander of a fleet was then called, shaped a 
course for Greenland, and on reaching 60° N. latitude, 
he gave his instructions to his second in command, and 
the Sunshine, with the pinnace North Star as a tender, 
parted company. Captain Pope was to search for a 
passage northward between Greenland and Iceland as 
far as 80° N., if he was not stopped by land. He started 
on this important mission on the 7th of June, the 
Mermaid and Moonshine continuing their voyage, and 
coming in sight of the southern extremity of Greenland 
on the 15th. The pack-ice, extending for several leagues 
off the shore, rendered it impossible to land ; so Davis 
gave it the name of Cape Farewell, and made sail in 
order to get a good ofling, once more entering the strait 
which bears his name. Here he encountered severe 
gales of wind during the next fortnight, and it was 
not until the 29th that he again sighted the frowning 



1586.] FIEST AND SECOND ARCTIC VOYAGES. 45 

mountains of Greenland near Gilbert Sound, his dis- 
covery of the previous year. He at once resolved to 
take shelter among the islands which skirt the coast, 
and there to put together a small pinnace, which had 
been brought out in pieces on board the Mermaid, to 
examine the indentations of the coast and act as a scout. 
Davis accurately described the coast as " very high and 
mountainous, having before it, on the west side, a mightie 
companie of isles, full of fayre soundes and harboroughs. 
The land was very little troubled with snowe, and the 
sea altogether voyd of yce." 

A boat was sent away to sound for a suitable anchorage, 
and was soon surrounded by kayaks. As soon as the 
Eskimos recognised some of the men who had been there 
in the previous year, " they hung about the boat with 
such comfortable joy as would require a long discourse 
to be uttered." Davis then landed on one of the islands, 
with eighteen knives, and gave one to each native. They 
offered skins in exchange, but it was explained to them, 
by signs, that ^* the knives were not solde, but given 
them of curtesie." 

Next day the pinnace was landed at a convenient 
place on one of the islands, and while the carpenters 
were employed in putting it together, the people paid 
continual visits, sometimes as many as a hundred 
kayaks arriving together. They brought seals, skins, 
fish, and birds ; and Davis visited their summer tents. 
He was anxious to explore the country as far as pos- 
sible, and sent boats up the fiord for ten miles, which 
discovered a comparatively level tract with grass and 
moss, like an English moorland. Davis himself, with his 
boat's crew, walked several miles inland, seeing nothing 
but falcons, ravens, and some small land birds. On the 



46 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1585. 

3rd of July he made another boat expedition, attended by 
fifty Eskimos in their kayaks. He climbed to the top of 
a high hill in order to obtain a view, the natives being 
very friendly, and helping the strangers up and down 
the rocks. Having satisfied himself with regard to the 
nature of the country, he organised some athletic sports. 
In long jumps the English beat the natives. This was 
followed by wrestling- matches, when the strangers found 
their match. The Eskimos were strong and nimble, and 
they threw some of the English sailors who were held 
to be good wrestlers. 

The pinnace was launched on the 4th of July, forty 
of the Eskimos willingly giving their assistance. On the 
same day the master of the Mermaid discovered a grave 
on one of the islands, in which several bodies were in- 
terred, with a cross laid over them. It is possible that 
this may have been a relic of the Norsemen, or that the 
tradition of the use of the cross may have been pre- 
served by the Skrsellings from the wreck of the Norse 
colonies. A few days afterwards. Captain Davis went 
for another long boat expedition up one of the fiords. 
These fiords run up towards the interior glacier of Green- 
land for distances of fifty or even a hundred miles. The 
frowning granite cliffs rise on either side to a great 
height, while in several places there are breaks where 
small valleys are formed, bright with mosses and wild- 
flowers during the short summer. In the far distance 
an occasional glimpse is caught of the white gleaming 
line of the glacier. 

On the return of the General from one of these expe- 
ditions, he found that the natives had shown their pro- 
pensity for thieving in a very persistent way. They 
bad stolen an anchor, attempted to cut the hemp cable. 



1586.] FIRST AND SECOND AECTIC VOYAGES. 47 

cut away the boat from the stern, and had displayed 
their hostility by throwing large stones on to the decks. 
The crews were very angry, and said that Davis's " lenity 
and friendly using of them gave them stomach for mis- 
chief." But he still forbore, and endeavoured to regain 
the good-will of the natives by giving them more pre- 
sents. That night they made another attack, and the 
boatswain of the Moonshine was knocked down by a large 
stone. The patience of the General was at length ex- 
hausted. He chased their kayaks in a boat, but, of 
course, to no purpose. Next day, however, a native was 
captured, and signs were made that he would not be 
liberated until the anchor was restored. Within an hour 
the wind became fair, and the two ships hastily weighed, 
taking the Eskimo with them. He died during the 
voyage. Davis wrote a very graphic account of these 
people in his journal, and collected a vocabulary of their 
language. 

Up to this time the health of the crews had been 
excellent. Only one young man had been taken ill, and 
he died at sea on the 14th of July. On the 15 th he 
was cast overboard, " according to the order of the sea, 
with praise given to God by service." 

When to the southward of Gilbert Sound, in 62," 8' N., 
Davis fell in with an enormous iceberg on the 17 th of 
July. Its extent and height were so extraordiaary that 
the pinnace was sent to ascertain whether it was land 
or really ice. The report that it was indeed one gigantic 
mass of ice floating on the sea, with bays and capes, 
plateaux and towering peaks, excited great astonish- 
ment. Soon other masses began to collect round the 
ships, while the ropes and sails were frozen and covered 
with frost, and the air was obscured by fogs. This was 



48 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1585. 

the more disheartening because in the previous year the 

sea was free and navigable in the same latitude. 

Progress was checked, and the men began to despond. 
They came aft very respectfully and advised their General 
that he should regard the safety of his own life and the 
preservation of his people, and that he should not through 
over- boldness run the risk of making children father- 
less and wives desolate. The gallant seaman was much 
moved. On the one hand, he had to consider the wel- 
fare of those intrusted to his charge ; on the other, 
he was bound to recognise the importance of achieving 
the great business on which he was employed : " where- 
upon," he tells us, " seeking help from God, the fountain 
of all mercies, it pleased His Divine Majesty to moove 
my heart to prosecute that which I hope shall be to His 
glory, and to the contentation of every Christian mind." 
After much reflection, he finally resolved that, although 
the Mermaid was a strong and sufficient ship, yet not 
so serviceable as a smaller vessel for this service, and 
being also a heavy expense to her owners, he would 
send her home and continue the voyage in the Moonshine. 
Having come to this decision, he steered eastward for 
the land with a fair wind, and anchored in an excellent 
road in latitude 66° 30' N. on the 2nd of August. This 
place, on the west coast of Greenland, is called Old 
Sukkertoppen by the Danes. The Moonshine was re- 
paired and re-victualled, while, according to his invari- 
able custom, Davis caused the surrounding country to 
be explored. 

William Eston, the master, went away in a boat, and 
returned with a report that all the land seemed to con- 
sist of islands. The heat was very great, and those 
who went on shore were much tormented by mosquitos. 



1586.] FIKST AND SECOND AECTIC VOYAGES. 49 

Friendly relations were established with the natives, 
commencing in a curious way. A recently killed seal, 
with bladders tied to it, was floated down to the ships 
with the flood-tide ; this Davis looked upon as a friendly 
present, and on the next day the natives appeared and 
began to barter without fear. Leaving the Mermaid at 
anchor preparing to commence her long voyage home, 
Davis weighed on the 15th of August, and continued 
the work of exploration in the Moonshine. Sailiug 
ajcross the strait, he once more sighted the Cape of 
God's Mercy ; and noticing a current to the west, great 
hope was conceived that there might really be a passage 
by way of Cumberland Gulf. But on the 19th of August 
it began to snow, and foul weather continued all night 
with much wind. The Moonsltine was obliged to heave- 
to off the shore. In the morning, the weather clearing 
up, she ran in, and was anchored in a safe roadstead. 
Next day the General continued his examination of the 
coast to the southward, searching for a passage. 

Davis surveyed this western coast from the 20th to 
the 28th of August, laying it down from the 67th to the 
57th parallels of north latitude. He found enormous 
numbers of birds breeding in the cliffs, which led him 
to suppose that there must be a similar abundance of 
fish in the sea. So he hove the ship to for about half 
an hour, and in that short time the men caught a 
hundred cod. He then anchored in a roadstead on the 
Labrador coast, remaining there until the ist of Sep- 
tember. Davis, as was his wont, made an expedi- 
tion into the interior, and found a wooded country 
with abundance of game. His people succeeded in 
bringing down numbers of birds with bows and arrows, 
and they caught many more cod at the harbour's mouth. 



50 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1585. 

On the ist of September the Moonshine was got under 
weigh, and continued to sail along the coast, with fine 
weather, for three days. It then fell calm, and the 
vessel was brought-to with a kedge-anchor in 54° 30' N. 
Again the lines were put overboard, and immense quan- 
tities of cod were secured. ** The hook was no sooner 
over the side, but presently a fish was taken." On the 
4th Davis anchored again, having passed a great open- 
ing which seemed to offer another hope of a passage. 
It was probably the Strait of Belleisle; but the wind 
was dead against him, and he could not enter it. "While 
they were at anchor, men were sent on shore to fetch 
some fish which had been laid out on the rocks to cure. 
The place appears to have been somewhere on the north 
coast of Newfoundland. Several Micmac Indians were 
lurking in the woods, and, without previous warning or 
parley, they opened a murderous fire on the English 
sailors with their bows and arrows. When he saw this 
from the ship, Davis quickly slipped his cable, set his 
foresail, and ran in towards the shore, discharging 
muskets at the savages, which put them to flight. But 
two of his men were killed by the arrows, two seriously 
wounded, and only one escaped by swimming off to the 
ship, with an arrow through his arm. 

The troubles of the explorers were increased by a 
furious gale of wind which sprang up from the N.N.E. 
that evening, and lasted for three days. Some of the 
strands of the cable of the sheet-anchor were torn asun- 
der, but the others held, and the Moonshine weathered 
the storm. Then, on the nth of September, with a fair 
W.N.W. wind, the gallant Davis shaped his course for 
England, arriving in the beginning of October 1586. 

Meanwhile the Sanshine and North Star, having parted 



1586.] FIRST AND SECOND AECTIC VOYAGES. 61 

company with Captain Davis on the 7th of June, pro- 
ceeded northward in pursuance of their instructions. 
Captain Pope anchored in one of the ports of Iceland 
on the nth, where he found another EngHsh ship from 
Ipswich. After remaining there a few days, he resumed 
his voyage, and sighted the east coast of Greenland on 
the 7th of July. Unable to approach the shore owing 
to the closely packed ice extending for several leagues, 
he coasted along it until he came in sight of the moun- 
tains which Davis had named " The Land of Desolation " 
during the voyage of the previous year. Rounding 
Cape Farewell, they reached the rendezvous at Gilbert 
Sound on the 3rd of August. The crew of the Sunshine 
appear to have had several games of football with the 
Eskimos. Two other places on the Greenland coast were 
visited, and there was an unfortunate encounter with 
the natives, three of them being killed. Captain Pope 
finally commenced his voyage home on the 31st of 
August. Three days afterwards they encountered a 
severe gale, which obliged the Sunshine to lay-to, and the 
little pinnace was lost ^ight of, and never seen again. 
Captain Pope waited four days, but nothing more was 
ever heard of the JVo7ih Star. The Stmshine arrived 
safely in the Thames on the 6th of October. The account 
of her voyage was written by Master Henry Morgan, 
the purser. 

This second voyage was looked upon by Captain Davis 
as very satisfactory. An immense extent of unknown 
coast-line had been explored, several wide openings lead- 
ing to the westward had been seen, and he was more - 
resolute than ever in his desire to continue the great 
contest with Nature until the victory was won. Davis 
had lost faith in Cumberland Gulf, but he had dis- 



52 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1585-86 

covered another great opening (Hudson Strait) which he 
thought might be a passage ; and his observations had 
led him to the correct conclusion that " the north parts 
of America are all islands." The evidence that these 
tentative voyages might be made to pay their expenses 
by bringing home cargoes of fish, was another encour- 
aging result of this second attempt. Davis had been 
unprovided with fishing gear, had been obliged to 
make hooks out of bent nails, and to use his sounding- 
lines to fish with; while his small stock of salt only 
enabled him to bring home about thirty couple of cod. 
Yet he had had ocular demonstration of the wonderful 
abundance of fish on the coast of Labrador. 

The explorer addressed a letter to Mr. William San- 
derson from Exeter, on the 14th of October. His own 
ship had brought home a cargo of cod-fish, and the Sun- 
shine had on board 500 sealskins and 140 half -skins. He 
wrote in feeling terms about the loss of the pinnace. 
" God be merciful unto the poor men and preserve them, 
if it be His blessed will." He assured Sanderson that 
the extensive knowledge he had acquired of the Northern 
regions had convinced him that the passage must be in 
one of four places., or else that it did not exist. He 
promised that if the attempt were continued there should 
be some profit for the adventurers, and he declared that 
he would forfeit all his hopes for the future, and even 
his portion of his beloved Sandridge, rather than fail to 
see the end of this great business. If all others fell 
away, there would be no failing, no turning from the 
plough where this good man and true was concerned. 



CHAPTEE IV. 

THE THIRD ARCTIC VOYAGE, 

Davis, as soon as he landed from his second voyage, pro- 
ceeded to Exeter, to give an account to the "West Country 
merchants and urge them to continue the enterprise. 
But they had lost heart. Their expectations of large 
returns were not fulfilled. Davis wrote sadly that " all 
the westerne marchant- adventurers fell from the action." 
He would meet with a better reception in London i^j 
but meanwhile he had an interval of rest at Sand- 
ridge. His wife had brought him another little boy 
during his absence, who was named Arthur. For a 
short time he enjoyed the pleasures of home, discussing 
the prospects of the discovery with his neighbour and 
lifelong friend, Adrian Gilbert, and inspiring the people 
of Stoke Grabriel with some of his own enthusiasm. 

During the winter Davis and Gilbert rode up to Lon- 
don together, to organise a third expedition with the 
help of their unfailing friend, William Sanderson. This 
merchant-prince was himself an accomplished geographer, 
and a munificent patron of geographical research. His 
great influence secured the support of a sufficient number 
of adventurers in London to enable Davis to fit out a 
third expedition, and the enterprise was encouraged by 
the Lord Treasurer and Sir Francis Walsingham. 

&3 



54 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1586. 

The winter and spring of 1587 was a busy time at 
Dartmouth. The old Sunshine, having been battered by 
the ice during two previous voyages, was in sad want of 
repair, and another vessel was fitted out at Dartmouth, 
called the Elizabeth. It was felt that there must be an 
attempt to make the expedition at least pay its expenses, 
and with this object two vessels were to be prepared 
for the fishery. One of these was the Sunshine ; the 
other was a clincher-built pinnace of about twenty tons, 
called the Ellen. Her staunchness and sailing powers 
were much praised by her former owners, but there 
were some who felt doubtful about her from the first, 
"falling into reckoning that she was a clincher." A 
boat is clincher-built when the outside planks overlap 
each other, an unusual build for a sea- going vessel even 
in those days, and most dangerous in ice navigation. 
The " clincher " was destined to give her crew a good 
deal of trouble. A smaller pinnace was also framed by 
Pearson, the carpenter, to be put together and used for 
exploring when they reached the Greenland coast. 

Captain Davis was a most popular commander. Men 
who had once served with him always wanted to enter 
again, and his shipmates soon began to share his enthu- 
siasm for discovery. In the third voyage, William Bru- 
ton, who had been master of the Moonshine in 1585, now 
entered as master of the Elizabeth. John Janes, the 
author of the narrative of the first voyage, sailed again 
as merchant for Mr. Sanderson, but really as friend and 
counsellor of the commander. Davis also had the plea- 
sure of being able to appoint a native of his own village 
as pilot of the Ellen. The Churchwards were one of the 
principal families of Stoke Gabriel. The name is the 
first in the old parish register, which commences in 



1587.] THIRD ARCTIC VOYAGE. 65 

1550, and it continues to occur frequently down to the 
present time. John Churchward, like Davis and other 
natives of Stoke Gabriel, had adopted a sailor's life, and 
now took service under his fellow-townsman. Pearson, 
the carpenter, had shown ability and resource in the 
work of fitting out, and many of the seamen had already 
served with Davis. But the men of the Sunshine had 
been entered for fishing and not for discovery — a mis- 
take which led to misunderstandings — and the old vessel 
could only be partially repaired. 

At midnight on the 19th of May 1587 the Sunshine, 
Elizabeth, and clincher Ellen weighed their anchors and 
sailed out of Dartmouth harbour before a fresh gale 
from the north-east. On the 21st the expedition met 
the Red Lion homeward bound from Spain, and requested 
her captain to take a packet of letters directed to Master 
Sanderson. It was attempted to throw the parcel, with 
a weight attached to it, on board the homeward-bounder, 
but it fell short, and so only a message could be sent. 
Next day the Scilly Islands were sighted, and on the 
25th the squadron was obliged to heave-to, while the 
Sunshine searched for a leak, which could only be kept 
under by five hundred strokes at the pump during each 
watch. The clincher proved a sad failure, and had to be 
towed, having lost her foremast. 

During the voyage the master of the Sunshine had 
trouble with his crew, because they wanted to proceed at 
once to the fishery, while he insisted upon keeping com- 
pany with the explorers until he received orders. He 
was afraid the men would shape a contrary course while 
he was asleep ; but at length, after much discussion, the 
crew consented to keep company until Greenland was 
reached. On the 14th the rugged mountains, with the 



\ 



56 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1586. 

loom of the glacier between their peaks, was sighted, 
and in the afternoon of the i6th of June the squadron 
came to an anchor in Gilbert Sound. 

Considering the importance of making the voyage pay 
its expenses, with a view to inducing adventurers to con- 
tinue their efforts, Davis came to a resolution which was 
little less than heroic. He determined to dispatch both 
the Sunshine and the Elizabeth to the fishery, and to con- 
tinue his voyage of discovery in the little clincher-built 
pinnace Ellen, of barely twenty tons. It was first neces- 
sary to put the small pinnace together, and the car- 
penters set to work, under Pearson'^ superintendence, 
on one of the islands. During the night of the 20th, 
when she was nearly ready for launching, the Eskimos 
came and tore away the two upper strakes for the sake 
of the iron. A blank cartridge was fired from a saker 
(a gun about ten feet long, firing a ball of four to seven 
pounds) to frighten them away, and the master of the 
Elizabeth went on shore immediately afterwards. But 
the boat had been seriously injured, and it was decided 
that she should be handed over to the Elizabeth to do 
service at the fishery, 

A more serious disaster was reported on the following 
day. John Churchward, who was pilot in the Ellen^ 
came to the captain with the alarming news that she had 
sprung a leak, and that it required three hundred strokes 
of the pump during a watch to keep her free of water. 
In this wretched little craft the explorers were to hazard 
their lives. All felt the crisis to be serious. Several 
hesitated. John Davis considered the matter, and his 
decision was worthy of him. He told his people that it 
would be better to end their lives with credit than to 
return with infamy and disgrace. The crew at once 



1587.] 



THIRD ARCTIC VOYAGE. 



57 



accepted his words as final, and resolved to live and die 
together. So at midnight on the 2 ist the squadron finally 
departed from Gilbert Sound, " our two barks for our fish- 
ing-voyage, and myself in the pinnace for the discovery." 
The Ellen proceeded northwards along the west coast 




SANDERSON HIS HOPKl 

of Greenland, to which Davis gave the name of the 
London Coast, occasionally bartering with Eskimos who 
passed in their kayaks. An observation taken by Davis 
on the 30th showed them to be in latitude 72° 12' N., 
with the sea quite open to the northward and westward. 

1 Reproduced from Moss' "Shores of the Polar Seas," by kind 
permission of Marcus Ward k Co, Lim, 



58 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1586. 

It was the most northern point reached by the great 
explorer. A lofty perpendicular cliff, which is in reality 
one of several small islands off the coast, was named, 
after the friend and chief promoter of the expedition — 
" Sanderson his Hope ; " for here it was that there 
seemed to be the greatest hope of a passage. A very 
grand sight was before the discoverers on that memor- 
able 30th of June 1587. A bright blue sea extended to 
the horizon on the north and west, obstructed by no ice 
floes, but here aad there a few majestic icebeigs, with 
snowy peaks shooting up into the sky, floated on the 
bosom of the deep. Near the horizon, in the fa,r dis- 
tance, these icebergs, distorted by the refraction, were 
raised up into the most fantastic and beautiful forms 
imaginable. To the eastward were the granite moun- 
tains of Greenland, and beyond them the white line of 
the mightiest glacier in the world, upheld by the moun- 
tain buttresses like huge caryatides. Eising immediately 
above the tiny vessel was the beetling wall of Hope 
Sanderson, with its summit 850 feet above the sea-level. 
Its surface is slightly broken by narrow ledges, on which 
hundreds of thousands of guillemots rear their young ; 
and when disturbed, they fly out in dense clouds, and 
return after circling many times over the water. At its 
base the sea was a sheet of foam and spray. The little 
clincher of twenty tons would have looked like a bird 
flapping its white wings over tlie water from the sum- 
mit of the Hope, when she came thus to christen the 
mighty cliff for all time. Insignificant as she appeared 
amidst that scene of calm magnificence, there were great 
and swelling hearts on board the Ellen, on whom the 
grandeur of the scene must have made a deep impres- 
sion. The refracted beauties on the northern horizon 



1587.] TIIIED AKCTIC VOYAGE. 59 

were like a scene in fairyland, — a scene so utterly un- 
like anything that is ever seen in lower latitudes, so 
bright and beautiful that it must have seemed like the 
very reflection of embodied hope to the weather-beaten 
explorers. The mighty cliff was the leading mark of 
" Sanderson his hope of a North-West Passage; " with 
large, open water to the north. "No ice towards the 
north, but a great sea, free, large, very salt and blue, 
and of an unsearchable depth." 

But that night the aspect of affairs changed. The 
little pinnace was obliged to alter course to the west 
owing to a strong northerly wind having sprung up, and 
ran forty leagues in that direction without sighting land. 
Captain Davis had been indefatigable with his scientific 
observations throughout the voyage. He fixed the lati- 
tude of Sanderson's Hope correctly at 72° 12' N. The 
variation of the compass was 28° W., and the sun was 
5° above the horizon at midnight, the weather being 
warm and calm. Davis paid close attention to the 
phenomena of terrestrial magnetism, a subject the im- 
portance of which was beginning to be appreciated. The 
series of observations for variation at London was com- 
menced in 1580, and in the following year William 
Borough published his "Discourse of the Compass or 
Magnetical Needle." This was followed in 1585 by 
Robert Norman's -* New Attractive," in which the " new 
discovered secret and subtil propertie " of the dip of the 
magnetic needle is explained. The investigations into 
the properties of the magnet were well known to Captain 
Davis, who did his best to increase the data on which they 
were based by careful observations during his voyages. 

On the 2nd of July the little Ellfn encountered a 
"mighty bank of ice," lying north and south, which 



60 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1586. 

checked her progress. This was the famous "middle 
pack," a mass of ice drifting towards the Atlantic, and 
sometimes extending for 200 miles, its average thickness 
being eight feet. The prevalent wind is from the north- 
west, and the ice mass is thus steadily drifted south- 
wards, leaving a sheet of navigable water in its wake. 
The wind prevented Davis from carrying out his first 
intention of doubling the northern end of the pack, and 
reaching the "north water." He therefore coasted it 
to the southward, hoping to double the southern end 
and then run westward in search of a passage. On the 
3rd and 4th the weather was foggy; but on the 6th it was 
very clear, and a close examination resulted in the belief 
that a lane of water through the pack would lead to an 
open and navigable sea. These appearances are too 
often deceptive, and they proved so in the present 
instance. The Ellen was taken up a lane of water by 
means of oars for a distance of five leagues westerly; but 
the ice had closed up, the hopeful appearances of open 
water had disappeared, and there was nothing for it but 
to retrace her steps and escape from being beset in the 
ice. Fortunately, it was nearly calm, and by midnight 
of the 8th the explorers recovered the open sea to the 
eastward. Coasting along the pack for three more days, 
in calm but foggy weather, they sighted the western 
coast of Davis Strait, and bartered with some natives 
who came out to sea in their kayaks. 

Mount Raleigh, the lofty hill which had been dis- 
covered and named during the first voyage, was sighted 
on the 19th of July, and by midnight the little pinnace 
was off the entrance of Cumberland Gulf. Davis de- 
cided to make a second examination of this great open- 
ing, and sailed along its northern entrance until he 



1587.] THIRD ABCTIC VOYAGE. 61 

reached the group of islands at the end, which were also 
named after the adventurous young Earl of Cumberland. 
A large whale passed the Ellen while she was at anchor, 
going westward among the islands. Here Davis again 
observed for variation, and found it to be 30°. 

Davis shaped a course on the 24th to recover the 
open sea, and being becalmed at the entrance of the 
gulf on the 25th, William Bruton, the master, went on 
shore with a boat's crew to course with their dogs. But 
the dogs had become so fat on board ship that they were 
scarcely able to run. Proceeding on their voyage south- 
ward, they came to a wide opening between 62° and 63° 
N. latitude, to which Davis gave the name of Lord 
Lumley's Inlet; and a headland passed on the 31st was 
called the Earl of Warwick's Foreland. The inlet was 
clearly Frobisher's Strait, and the land was no other than 
the Meta Incognita of that navigator. This has been 
placed beyond any doubt through the discovery of the 
remains of Frobisher's expedition in recent years by 
Captain Hall. But the error in longitude led geo- 
graphers to place the discoveries of Frobisher in Green- 
land. They are thus shown on the map of the world of 
1600, and this was certainly the belief of Davis. 

Next came the discovery of the great strait, at the 
mouth of which there were confused currents, called on 
the Molyneux globe, and on the "New Map" of 1599, 
" the furious overfall." Davis says in the log : " We fell 
into a mighty race, where an island of ice was carried by 
the force of the current as fast as our barke could sail. 
We saw the sea falling down into the gulfe with a mighty 
overfal, and roring, with divers circular motions like 
whirlepooles, in such sort as forcible streams passe thorow 
the arches of bridges." Mr. Janes in his journal says : 



62 



LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. 



[1586. 



** We passed by a very great gulfe, the water whirling 
and roring as it were the meeting of tides." Thus did 
Davis point out the way to future important discoveries. 
His exploratory labours threw the light which marked 
the way. *'Hedid, I conceive," said Luke Fox many 
years afterwards, *' light Hudson into his strait." After 
coasting along an ice-floe which had drifted out of the 




DAVIS STRAIT. 



strait, Davis came to the point of land which formed its 
southern entrance, and named it Cape Chudleigh (or 
Chidley), after his Devonshire friend. Continuing the 
voyage, they named an island off the Labrador coast 
after Lord Darcy on the 12th of August. 

A boat's crew landed on Darcy Island with Mr. 
Janes, in hopes of securing some deer that had been 



1587.] THIED AKCTIC VOYAGE. 63 

seen fix)!!! the ship browsing on its slopes. After chas- 
ing them twice round the island, the deer took the sea, 
and swam in the direction of some other islands. The 
boat was unable to overtake them, but Mr. Janes shot 
a grey hare on Darcy Island, which was the sole result 
of his excursion. The rendezvous for the fishing- vessels 
Sunshine and Elizabeth was at the islands off the Labra- 
dor coast in 54" N., and, in looking for them, the ElUn 
struck upon a rock ; and was in considerable danger, as 
she sprung a serious leak. Necessary repairs were effected 
during a gale of wind; and on the 15th of August, 
when in latitude 52° 12' N., and thirty-six miles from 
the shore. Captain Davis " shaped a course for England 
in God's name." The fishing-ground had been appointed 
by Davis to be between 54° and 55° N. The captains 
of the Sunshine and Elizabeth had been ordered to erect 
cairns on every headland within twenty leagues of their 
fishing-ground, but nothing of the kind had been done. 
The vessels had probably retuined home without carry- 
ing out their instructions. When she commenced her 
voyage, the Ellen had very little fuel left, and only half 
a hogshead of water. After much variable weather, the 
little pinnace, with her gallant crew, arrived safely at 
Dartmouth on the 15th of September 1587, and the 
discoverers landed, " giving thanks to God for their safe 
arrival." 

The narratives of the first and third Arctic voyages of 
Davis were written by Mr. John Janes; the second 
was written by Davis himself, the detached voyage of 
the Sunshine being narrated by Henry Morgan, the 
purser. Davis doubtless kept logs during all three 
voyages, and drew charts as the results of his surveys ; 
but the log of his third voyage is the only one that. 



64 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1586. 

lias been preserved. The columns are headed with the 
months, days, hours, courses, distances run, winds, 
elevation of the pole or latitude, and remarks. He 
called it his " Traverse Book." The narratives were first 
published in 1589 in Hakluyt's "Principal Navigations." 
In his "World's Hydrographical Description" Davis gives 
a brief resume of the three voyages and of their results. 

We have no account of the return of the Sunshine 
and Elizabeth^ nor of the result of their fishing. 
Captain Davis had continued a hazardous voyage of 
discovery, and had exposed himself and his gallant fol- 
lowers to great risk and danger in the little " cHncher," 
in order that the adventurers who had promoted the 
voyage might not be losers. We may reasonably hope 
that the captain's object was secured, that the fishery was 
successful, and that the expedition paid its expenses, 
besides adding largely to geographical knowledge. 

The country was in a state of preparation for. a 
desperate struggle with Philip of Spain. Sluys had 
fallen, and the Duke of Parma was carrying all before 
him. The invasion of England was threatened, and 
the thoughts of every Englishman w^ere concentrated on 
the defence of his native country. Davis rendered aii 
account of his discoveries to Mr. Sanderson, to Sir 
Walter Raleigh, and to Adrian Gilbert. They all 
appreciated his great achievement, and continued to 
be his true and constant friends. He conferred with 
Master Hakluyt on the incidents of his voyages, with 
Master Molyneux on his surveys, and with Master 
Edward Wright on his scientific observations. But for 
the present, there could be no thought of further dis- 
covery. The country was in danger, and every faculty 
of her sons must be devoted to the work of diverting or 



1587.] THIRD ARCTIC VOYAGE. 65 

overcoming it. " By reason of the Spanish fleet and the 
unfortunate time of Mr. Secretary's death, the vo^-age 
was omitted and never since attempted." 

Once more John Davis returned to the home of his 
boyhood, to beautiful Sandridge. Another child had 
been born in his absence, and had been baptized in 
Stoke Gabriel Church with his father's name on the 8th 
of July 1587 — the very day on which the admirable 
seamanship of that father had extricated his vessel from 
the perils of the middle pack. The brave sailor now 
had three little boys playing round his knees, and 
his wife Faith was still true and loyal. Alas ! that 
those sweet bells should ever have become jangled and 
out of tune. 

We may now take stock of the Arctic discoveries 
achieved by John Davis. Norsemen had settled in 
Greenland centuries before, and had disappeared. Cabot 
had been on the Labrador coast; Cortereal and other 
Portuguese had followed in his track, and had possibly 
reached Ungava Bay within Hudson's Strait. Frobisher 
had, more recently, collected imaginary ores on the 
shores of Meta Incognita, but the position of his dis- 
covery was unsettled. No navigator, however, had pre- 
viously entered those seas whose scientific knowledge 
could be compared with that of John Davis. All the 
coasts and seas not actually discovered were laid down 
and mapped afresh, and must be considered to have 
been rediscovered and first brought within the actual 
knowledge of his generation by him. 

The great continent of Greenland, though indicated 
on the Zeno map, was rediscovered and made known by 
Davis. Including the work of Captain Pope in 1586, 
the east coast was traced from the latitude of the 

B 



66 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1586. 

northern point of Iceland to Cape Farewell. The west 
coast was laid down by Davis himself, from Cape Farewell 
in 60° N. to Sanderson's Hope in 72° 12' N., a distance of 
732 miles. But he did not merely define the coast-lines 
and make certain the existence of the great mass of land 
which had long been vaguely known as Greenland. He 
collected information respecting the physical conditions 
of land and sea. He found that heavy floes of ice were 
pressed upon the east coast and the southern part of 
the west coast, so that it was impossible to approach the 
land within several leagues. This is the ice brought 
down by the great southerly current, which, flowing down 
the east coast of Greenland, is checked in its passage by 
the Gulf Stream flowing athwart its course. Its ice- 
encumbered waters are thus diverted, and made to turn 
round Cape Farewell and up the west coast, until they 
are met by the current flowing south from Bafiin's Bay, 
and again diverted. Thus it was that Davis was baffled 
in all his attempts to reach the land until he arrived at 
the part of the west coast to the north of this diverted 
southerly current. Gilbert Sound was found to be clear 
of ice long before the coast to the southward. In all 
three voyages, Gilbert Sound, in 64° N., was the first 
land reached, while the places to the southward could 
not be visited until much later in the summer. 

The continent of Greenland is 1400 miles in length 
by about 400 miles in its widest part, and, except a rim 
of granitic mountains along the coast, which is broken 
by deep inlets or fiords fringed with numerous islands, 
it is covered by one enormous glacier. The glacier re- 
ceives the snowfall from year to year, and its vast mass 
is pressed outwards in all directions. At certain points 
it reaches the heads of the deepest fiords, and is forced 



1587.] THIED AECTIC VOYAGE. 67 

down them until the outer ends float on the water, and 
are broken off, forming icebergs. These offshoots of the 
main glacier at the heads of fiords are called " discharg- 
ing glaciers," and they send forth the great harvest of 
icebergs which float on the surface of Davis Strait, and 
are drifted into the Atlantic during the early summer. 
John Davis observed these natural phenomena with 
admiration and astonishment. He saw the blink of 
the glacier beyond the granite mountains ; he examined 
some of the largest icebergs, and correctly divined their 
origin. 

The mountains forming the rim which confines the 
inland glacier present a magnificent aspect from the 
sea. The long narrow promontories running out from 
them and the innumerable islands are all of the same 
primitive formation. Davis examined these rocks with 
care, and noticed the same shining veins of mica which 
Frobisher had mistaken for orts of the precious metals. 
He made long boat expeditions up the fiords, and 
climbed several hills to obtain a correct idea of the 
nature of the country. He also noticed the character 
of the vegetation, enumerating the dwarf willow, the 
birch, the cloud-berry, and several humble flowering 
herbs. The driftwood which comes down with the East 
Greenland current was puzzling, and he was unable 
to account for its appearance. 

The animal life, which is so abundant in Arctic seas, 
was observed with great interest by Davis and his com- 
panions. The fish, the numerous seals, the "great 
store" of whales, and the white bears were seen in 
great quantities; and boats' crews were sent away in 
chase whenever a chance offered ; while reindeer, hares, 
and foxes were hunted on the promontories and islands. 



68 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1586. 

Most of the Arctic birds are referred to in the narratives 
of Davis's voyages, and the incredible numbers of gulls 
and guillemots, breeding on the cliffs or dotted over the 
calm surface of the sea, was another cause for admira- 
tion, as well as a means of supplementing the allowance 
of provisions. 

Davis took special pains to describe the Eskimos, 
their superstitions and customs, their habits and mode 
of life, their tents and Jcayaks or sealskin canoes ; and 
he collected a vocabulary of their language. 

In Denmark there was a tradition, still tolerably fresh 
in men's minds, of a lost colony in Greenland ; but the 
Kiagas recording that interesting episode were known to 
few. They relate how, in the tenth century, a Norse- 
man settled in Iceland, named Erik Eada, had discoveied 
a land to the westward and named it Greenland ; how 
he had returned and brought back settlers, who estab- 
lished themselves on the shores of the deep fiords ; how 
churches were built and a bishopric created. They tell 
how Lief, the son of Erik, and his brothers, discovered 
countiies still farther to the westward, named Vinland, 
Maikland, Helluland ; believed to have been Massachu- 
setts, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. Later chroni- 
cles record that after the middle of the fourteenth cen- 
tury, when the black death spread havoc over Europe, 
all communication with the Greenland colony ceased, 
and that the Norse settlers were supposed to have been 
destroyed by a small race of men coming from the north, 
called SkraBllings. 

Two centuries had elapsed, and Davis was the first to 
revisit the sites of the old Norse colonies. He found 
the SkrssUings, afterwards called Eskimos, in undis- 
puted possession. Of the Norsemen he had never heard, 



1587.] THIRD AECTIC VOYAGE. 69 

and he saw no sign of them. He gave a full description 
of the people he met with, and he also mentioned the 
discovery of a grave with a cross upon it. Other Norse 
graves have since been discovered with runic inscrip- 
tions. To Davis is due the honour of having redis- 
covered Greenland after that great region had been 
buried in oblivion for more than two centuries. 

Davis also explored that sea which has ever since 
been known as Davis Strait. He found it open and 
navigable along the west coast of Greenland as far as 
72° 12' K. He discovered the position of the middle 
pack of ice, its character and drift. Not content with 
coasting along its edge, he forced his way into the pack, 
and was beset for several days in a most perilous position. 

In his "World's Hydrographical Description" he gives 
an account of the different kinds of ice met with in the 
Arctic regions. He explains how icebergs are formed 
by being detached from the glaciers bordering on the 
deep sea in the fiords, and how they carry off great 
boulders of rock. He tried experiments to ascertain the 
flotation of ice, and showed the reason that the icebergs 
" calve " and turn over. 

His extensive discoveries and surveys along the 
western shores of Davis Strait were equally important. 
He ascertained the existence of three great openings, 
one of which he twice explored. These were the 
Earl of Cumberland's Gulf, Lord Lumley's Inlet, and 
the great opening to which he gave no name, but 
which was Hudson's Strait. Cumberland's Gulf has 
since been proved to extend for 160 miles, and Lumley's 
Inlet is now known to be identical with the so-called 
Frobisher's Strait. But Hudson's Strait is one route, 
by Hecla and Fury Strait and Bellot's Strait, to Bering's 



70 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [15SJ. 

Strait, and consequently a North-"West Passage. San- 
derson's Hope, the limit of the northern discoveries of 
Davis, is the portal of another passage by way of Barrow 
and Peel Straits. It is the route taken by Sir John 
Franklin, and by which that great navigator would have 
achieved his object if he had been aware that King 
William's Land was an island. In his letter to Master 
Sanderson, Davis said that there were four openings 
discovered by him, any one of which might turn out to 
be the long-sought passage. Modern research has proved 
that no less than two of these actually are North- West 



Davis also examined and laid down the whole coast of 
Labrador from Cape Chidley to Newfoundland. A recent 
writer has correctly observed that "it is to Davis that 
we owe the most exact knowledge of the Labrador coast 
until modern times." ^ Cabot, Cortereal, and others are 
known to have visited this coast, but it is to Davis that 
we owe its first intelligible delineation. The practical 
results of the great seaman's work were the opening of 
a most lucrative whale and seal fishery in Davis Strait, 
the extension of the cod-fishery to the coast of Labrador, 
and the eventual recolonisation of Greenland. All these 
benefits may be traced in their origin to the discoveries 
of Davis. His scientific observations were made with 
regularity and care. He fixed his latitudes by meridian 
altitudes of heavenly bodies, and took a regular series 
of observations for the variation of the compass, and 
probably also for the dip of the magnetic needle. His 
diligently worked system of dead-reckoning, combined 
with astronomical observations, enabled him to prepare 

1 Professor Packard, Bulletin of the American Geographical 
Society, vol. xx. No. 2, p. 225 (June 18SS). 



1587.] THIRD AECTIC VOYAGE. 71 

charts of his discoveries, and his nautical experience 
suggested improvements in methods of observing and 
working which were of great service during that and 
the next generation to his brother seamen. 

Davis converted the Arctic regions from a confused 
' myth into a defined area, the physical aspects and con- 
ditions of which were understood so far as they were 
known. He not only described and mapped the ex- 
tensive tract explored by himself, but he clearly pointed 
out the work cut out for his successors. He lighted 
Hudson into his strait. He lighted Baffin into his bay. 
He lighted Hans Egede to the scene of his Greenland 
labours. But he did more. His true-hearted devotion 
to the cause of Arctic discovery, his patient scientific 
research, his loyalty to his employers, his dauntless 
gallantry and enthusiasm, form an example which will 
be a beacon-light to maritime explorers for all time to 
come. 



CHAPTER Y. 

WAR SERVICES, 

During the three years following his return from the 
Arctic regions, John Davis, like every other British 
seaman of distinction, was engaged on services connected 
with the war with Spain. 

Queen Elizabeth had entered upon a war for the de- 
fence of the Netherlands in 1585. Philip II. deter- 
mined to make a great effort to destroy the power of 
England by invading his enemy's country, and enforcing 
his claim to the crown as the legitimate representative 
of the House of Lancaster. Preparations were made in 
the ports of Spain on a gigantic scale, ships and men 
being collected from all parts of Philip's European 
dominions. The great reliance of Spain, as regards her 
navy, was on the hardy seamen of the Basque provinces. 
Sebastian del Cano, who was born on the shores of the 
Bay of Biscay, was the first to circumnavigate the globe, 
and Basques, or " Biscayners," as the English called 
them, were' the earliest pioneers of the whale-fishery. 
They were equally efficient in maritime warfare, and 
the squadron of Guipuzcoa under Don Miguel de 
Oquendo, and of Biscay under Don Juan Martinez de 
Becalde, formed the backbone of the Spanish Armada. 
At Bilbao and Santander, twelve of the finest ships in 

72 



15S7-91.] WAK SERVICES. 73 

Philip's navy had recently been built, and named after 
the twelve apostles. The squadron of Andalusia was 
commanded by Don Pedro de Yaldez, an officer well 
acquainted with the navigation of the British Channel, 
and Don Hugo de Mongada was chief of the galleasses. 
The Castilian admiral was Don Diego Flores de Valdez, 
who lost his nerve. He had under his command several 
brave and noble captains, including the Marques de 
Penafiel in the San Marcos, Don Diego de Pimentel in 
the San Mateo, Don Agustin Mesia in the San Luis, 
Don Fi-ancisco de Toledo in the San Felipe, Don Diego 
Enriquez in the San Juan, and Don Antonio Pereyra 
in the Santiago. Martin de Ventendona, Gaspar de 
Sousa, and Diego Tellez Enriquez led the Italian con- 
tingents in the San Juan de Sicilla and the galleon of 
Florence. The land forces consisted of 20.000 soldiers. 
They were led by Don Alonzo de Leyva, a brilliant and 
dashing cavalier, who had commanded a regiment of 
noblemen at Gemblour. He embarked on board the 
Rata, and had Maurice Fitzgerald, Caly O'Connor, and 
other Irish rebels in his company. 

The whole Armada consisted of 129 vessels, seven of 
which were upwards of 1000 tons, manned by 8000 
sailors and 1000 gentlemen volunteers, and seventy- two 
galleys rowed by 2080 galley-slaves. The ships were 
built with very high poops and forecastles, and were 
inferior to the English in sailing qualides and in the 
weight of their broadsides. The whole Armada was 
under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, a 
nobleman of the highest rank and of tried courage an4 
conduct. He hoisted his flag on board the San Marcos, 
with orders to sail up the Channel, form a junction with 
the Duke of Parma at Dunkirk, and convoy his army 



74 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1587. 

across to the shores of England. The Armada assembled 
at Ferrol, and on the 2nd of July the mighty fleet sailed 
for the English Channel. 

England was not unprepared. She had already 
entered upon her third campaign against Spain in 
the Netherlands, and Lord Willoughby, with the pick 
of the English companies, was at Bergen -op-Zoom. 
Under the fostering care of Sir John Hawkins, the 
Queen possessed a navy, provided with ordnance, which 
was quite equal to that of Spain, placing her in the 
first rank as a fighting naval power. The largest guns, 
called cannons, threw a shot of 66 lbs. ; and of these 
there were twenty-six, distributed among the ten largest 
ships. The demi-cannons were 32-pounders, and of these 
there were fifty-four in the twelve largest ships; and 
the culverinSf with shot weighing 17 lbs., were distri- 
buted among the sixteen largest ships. The heaviest 
aTmament consisted of four cannons, four demi-cannonSy 
twelve culverins, and twenty-two smaller pieces. The 
small vessels were armed with demi-culverins having 9I- 
pound shot, and sakers throwing shot of 3 J lbs. Great 
improvements had also been made in the construction 
of the Queen's ships. In 1583, under the able superin- 
tendence of Sir John Hawkins, five new ships had been 
built. These were the Triumph, of 1100 tons, the Wlbiie 
Bear, and Eiizaheth Jonas, of 900, and the Arh and Vic- 
tory, of 800 tons. The improvements consisted in their 
sterns and forecastles being lower, their keels longer, 
and their lines generally finer and sharper. The Ilope^ 
of 800 tons, was a ship of the same class, but some years 
older. Three ships were of 600 tons, namely, the Lion, 
Elizabeth Bonaventure, and Mary Rose, and were of an 
earlier type. The famous old Revenge, built in the year 



I59I.] WAR SERVICES. 75 

1579, was one of four 500-ton ships, tbe others being 
the Nonpareil, I*ambow, and Vanguard. The Dread- 
nought and Stciftsure were 400 tons, the Antelope, Siual- 
loic, and Foresight from 350 to 300 ton ships. These 
eighteen large vessels formed the line of battle. There 
were also the Aid of 240 tons, and fifteen smaller vessels 
from 160 to 20 tons. 

The preparations of the Spanish Armada were reported 
in England, and aroused vehement patriotic feeling 
throughout the land. Noblemen, wealthy merchants, 
and seaport towns came forward with money and volun- 
teer ships, and all seamen eagerly sought for employ- 
ment against the enemy. The Queen's ships were placed 
in commission under the Lord Howard of Effingham, 
Lord High Admiral, whose flag was on board the ArJc 
Royal, with Roger Townshend as his flag-captain. He 
obtained the command of two of the finest new ships, 
the White Bear and the Elizabeth Jonas, for his nephew 
Lord Sheffield and his son-in-law Sir Robert Southwell, 
while his cousin Lord Thomas Howard had the Lion. 
Lord Henry Seymour and the Earl of Cumberland had 
the Rainbow and the Elizabeth Bonaventure. Eight ships 
were commanded by sailors whose names are honourably 
known to geographers, and Arctic men were of course 
well to the front. Martin Frobisher had the Triumph, 
the largest ship in the navy. Captain Fen ton was in the 
Mary Rose, and John Davis in the Black Dog. Sir John 
Hawkins, to whose ability and zeal the efficiency of the 
fleet was mainly due, embarked on board the Victory, 
one of the ships of his new design, and he had sufficient 
interest to obtain the command of the Sivalloic for his 
gallant young son Richard. Sir Francis Drake, the 
renowned circumnavigator, had the Revenge, and a 



76 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1587. 

number of armed merchant- vessels were under his com- 
mand. His old colleague, Sir William Winter, was in 
the Vanguard, and Captain Fenner had the Non]pareilf 
with his two brothers Edward and William in the com- 
mand of the Mary Rose and Aid. Robert Cross, who 
was afterwards a commander of great distinction, Sir 
George Beeston, and Sir Henry Palmer had the Hope, 
Dreadnought, and Anielope, while Christopher Baker was 
in the Foresight. One other officer of the fleet was 
destined to be well known both as a gallant sea-captain 
and as an intelligent writer on naval matters, but he 
had no separate command. This was Sir William 
Monson, who was serving on board the Charles, a 
little vessel of 70 tons with an armament of sixteen 
saTcers. 

Lord Howard took the sea with Sir Francis Drake 
as his Yice-, and Sir John Hawkins as his Rear- Admiral. 
Lord Henry Seymour, with the Rainboiv, Vanguard, 
Antelope, and a squadron of smaller ships was stationed 
off Calais to watch the movements of the Duke of 
Parma, whose army was assembling at Dunkirk. The 
Lord Admiral with the rest of the fleet cruised to the 
westward, with head- quarters at Plymouth. When, 
early in July 1588, Lord Howard signified to the Queen 
the great difference in power between the English and 
Spanish, and advised her to send more aid to the sea, 
the patriotic enthusiasm rose to boiling-point. Many 
noblemen and gentlemen, the names of fourteen of 
whom are recorded by Stowe and Camden, fitted out 
vessels at their own expense, and put to sea as a 
volunteer squadron under the command of Sir Walter 
Raleigh. London sent sixteen ships and four pinnaces, 
the Merchant Adventurers sent ten, while Bristol, Exeter, 



I59I ] WAR SEEVICES. 77 

Plymouth, Barnstaple, and Dartmouth all sent their 
contingents. 

So zealous and patriotic a seaman as John Davis 
could not be less forward than his fellows in those busy 
times. From his home at Sandridge he could give the 
benefit of his knowledge and experience either to the 
officials at Plymouth or to his neighbours at Dartmouth, 
who were busily fitting out two vessels, the Crescent of 
70 and the Hart of 30 tons, commanded respectively by 
John Wylson and James Houston, as their contingent 
towards the defence of their country. For active service 
afloat, Captain Davis would be in demand as an expert 
pilot. We have seen how zealously he seized the oppor- 
tunity of a few days' detention to make a survey of 
the Scilly Islands. He was also a Channel pilot, and 
had constructed a chart of the Slieve (as the English 
Channel was then called), with soundings, mainly from 
his own surveys. His ability and zeal were well known ; 
and although he had not sufficient interest to obtain the 
command of a large ship, he was appointed to a hired 
vessel of twenty tons, called the Black Dog, to act as a 
tender to the Lord Admiral. She had a crew of ten 
men and an armament of three saJcers. Her duty 
would be to remain near the flag- ship, to act as a 
cruiser and dispatch-vessel, and to pilot the Admiral 
in case of need. She served throughout the campaign, 
with the crew receiving the Queen's pay. The Ark 
Royal and the rest of the fleet were in Plymouth Sound, 
except the squadron under Seymour off Calais, when 
Captain Fleming arrived in hot haste to report having 
sighted the Armada off the Lizard on the 20th of July 
1588. 

Soon the stately Spanish ships were seen rounding 



78 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1587. 

Rame Head, and the English fleet at once put to sea. 
Lord Howard allowed the long line to pass, and then 
made a furious attack on the Rata, which was commanded 
by Don Alonzo de Leyva, and brought up the rear. 
The Ark Royal was supported by the Triumph, while 
the squadron of Biscay under Don Juan Martinez de 
Recalde, the Vice- Admiral, rallied to the support of 
Leyva. The English fought until their ammunition 
was nearly exhausted. It would be on such occasions 
as these that the services of Davis would have been 
valuable, to run in for stores and provisions, and to act 
as a scout when the combatants drew off. 

The night of the 21st was disastrous to the Spaniards. 
The Ark Royal, Bear, and Marij Rose, with their tenders 
in advance, followed the hostile fleet. In the dead of 
night the sky was lighted up from the blaze of a Spanish 
ship. It was the flag-ship of Oquendo, the Admiral of 
Guipuzcoa, who turned her adrift and shifted his flag 
on board another vessel. In coming to her assistance, 
the Capitana of Don Pedro de Valdez ran into the 
Santa Catalina, losing her foremast and bowsprit. Hav- 
ing been left behind, and the ship not being under con- 
trol, he surrendered to Drake, and was towed into 
Dartmouth, while the abandoned Guipuzcoan flag-ship 
was taken into Weymouth. It was not until the even- 
ing of the 22nd that Drake rejoined the Admiral. 

During the 23rd the wind blew from the noi-th, and 
both fleets, as they sailed up Channel, manoeuvred to 
gain the weather-gage. A desperate action was fought 
all the afternoon until evening, Lord Howard trying 
conclusions with the Marques de Penafiel, who was in 
the San Marcos of 792 tons. Many other ships were 
engaged, including several volunteers, and Camden 



I59I.] WAR SERVICES. 79 

mentions " Solus Cockus Anglus in sua, inter medios hosfes, 
navicula cum laude periit." All honour to *' Cockus 
Anglus ! " concerning whom we know nothing more than 
his glorious death. It was almost a dead calm on the 
24th, and Lord Howard was occupied in organising his 
fleet in four divisions. 

A fiercely contested action was fought off the back of 
the Isle of Wight on the 25th, when the Admiral in 
the Arh Royal led his division, consisting of the Lion 
under Lord Thomas Howard, the Bear under Lord Shef- 
field, the Elizabeth Jonas under Sir Kobert Southwell, 
and the Victory under Sir John Hawkins, into the 
centre of the Spanish fleet. It was the whole Howard 
connection. Admiral Oquendo, in his new flag-ship of 
900 tons, engaged the English flag-ship and rammed 
her stem, unshipping the rudder. The I'riumph under 
Frobisher, the Nonpareil, and Mary Rose then joined in 
the fray, captured a Spanish ship, and towed the Ark 
Royal out of action ; but the Tr'nimj)h was seriously 
injured. For their gallantry in this action Lord Howard 
knighted Lord Thomas Howard, Lord Sheffield, Hawkins, 
Frobisher, and his flag-captain, Roger Townshend. 

There were no hostilities on the 26th and 27th, and 
these no doubt were busy days for the Lord Admiral's 
tender, passing to and fro with ammunition and stores. 
Lord Howard went to Dover himself on the 27th, and 
foiming a junction with the squadron of Lord Henry 
Seymour, he followed the Spanish fleet to Calais Roads, 
which they had reached on the same day. The two 
fleets were anchored within half a mile of each other. 

During the whole of the 28th of July Lord Howard 
was preparing to send fireships down into the Spanish 
fleet. "He emptied eight of his basest barkes," says 



80 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS [15S7. 

Stowe, " and put erein combustible matter, which in 
the evening were subtillie set on fire, and, with advan^ 
tage of wind and tide, guided within reach of cannon- 
shot before the Spaniards could discern the same. Then 
the flames grew fierce with sudden terror to the enemy, 
in which fear they were all amazed with shrikes and 
loud outcryes, to the great astonishment of the neare 
inhabitants. Some cut cables, others let the hawsers 
slip, and happiest they could first begone, though few 
could tell what course to take." The Duke of Medina 
Sidonia kept his head, ordering the fleet to weigh and 
rendezvous at Gravelines ; but the other commanders 
appear to have been completely demoralised. The San 
Lorenzo, under Hugo de Mongada, went on shore at 
Calais, all hands being lost. 

While still in disorder, the Spanish fleet was attacked 
by the bulk of the English ships, led by Howard and 
Drake, on the 29th. Recalde, Oquendo, and Leyva 
gallantly strove to keep a squadron together for tho 
protection of the transports. But it was to no purpose. 
The San Mateo, San Fdipe, and others were driven on 
shore on the coast of Flanders. On the 30th there was 
a hard gale from the N.W. which shifted to the S.W., 
and the Duke, after a council of war, resolved to return 
to Spain by running before the storm and rounding the 
North of Scotland. Thus the victory was completed by 
the elements, and only fifty-^four ships escaped. The 
barbarous treatment of the Spaniards who were ship- 
wrecked on the coast of Ireland is an indelible stain on 
the British scutcheon, and, to some extent, throws a 
shade on the brilliant record of that eventful year. 

The Black Dog, relieved of her duties as tender to the 
Ark Royal, went back to Plymouth, and Captain Davia 



I59I,] WAK SERVICES. 81 

returned home after ten days of hard and most memor- 
able service. It was doubtless in memory of this service 
under the Lord High Admiral that he dedicated his 
work on navigation, entitled *'The Seaman's Secrets," to 
Lord Howard of Effingham. He was at Sandridge when 
his fourth child was born. It was seldom that his active 
service in distant seas allowed the brave sailor to be 
present at family ceremonies. But he stood at the font 
in Stoke Gabriel Church when this child was baptized 
with the name of Philip on the 9th of February 1589. 

The total overthrow of the great Armada of Spain 
was immediately followed by numerous enterprises, 
undertaken for the purpose of harassing and destroying 
Spanish commerce, and ships were fitted out by noble- 
men and merchants, with the approval, and often with 
the assistance, of the Government. John Davis had a 
firm friend in Sir Walter Raleigh, and he deservedly 
retained the full confidence of Master Sanderson. He, 
therefore, had good reason to hope that he would receive 
a command with the object of carrying on the war with 
his country's enemies. 

George Clifford, the young Earl of Cumberland, had 
been fond of mathematics and geographical science ever 
since he was a student at Oxford, and in those early 
days he had formed the acquaintance of Captain Davis, 
who had named a deep inlet on the west side of Davis 
Strait in his honour. He had grown up to be a noble- 
man of a most adventurous disposition. He had com- 
manded the Elizabeth Bonaventure with credit in the 
repulse of the Spanish Armada. In the following year 
he determined to lead an expedition at his own expense 
to prey upon Spanish commerce. The Queen lent him 
one of her ships, the Victory^ of 800 tons, and he fitted 

P 



82 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1587. 

out three small vessels, called the Margaret and the Mcg^ 
and a caravel. His chief reliance was on Captain 
Christopher Lister, a neighbour in Yorkshire, a man of 
great resolution ; and he also had with him, as captain 
of the Meg, the same William Monson who had served 
on board the Charles in the fleet that repulsed the 
Spanish Armada, and who was destined to rise to high 
rank in the navy. The eminent mathematician and 
cosmographer. Master Edward Wright, was induced to 
accompany the Earl, and he was the historian of the 
voyage. Several gentlemen volunteers embarked in the 
enterprise, and there were rather less than 400 soldiers 
and sailors. The Earl of Cumberland's expedition sailed 
from Plymouth on the i8th of June 1589. 

John Davis succeeded in obtaining employment of the 
same kind. He fitted out a ship called the Drake and a 
pinnace, the owner of which was, in all probability, his 
old friend Master Sanderson, the intention being to 
unite his forces with those of the Earl of Cumberland. 
Davis had for a consort a ship called the Barke of Lime, 
owned by Sir Walter Raleigh, and commanded by 
Captain Markesbury. The destination of these ships 
was the Azores in Mid- Atlantic ; but we can only derive 
any knowledge of the proceedings of Davis from the 
allusions to them in Master Wright's narrative of the 
voyage of the Earl of Cumberland, which, therefore, 
must needs be our guide. 

Leaving Plymouth on the i8th, the Earl captured 
three French vessels on the 21st of June, which were 
found to be Leaguers, and consequently lawful prizes. 
Two were sent to Plymouth, and the third conveyed all 
the French crews to one of their own ports. Next he 
met some ships of Rotterdam and Emden bound for 



I59I.] WAE SERVICES. 83 

Rochelle, which were dismissed; and then some Eng- 
lish vessels returning from the expedition to Portugal. 
They were supplied with provisions and water. Thus 
he proceeded on his course to the Azores, challenging 
every ship he met, fighting if they resisted search, dis- 
missing friends, making prize of Spaniards or French 
Leaguers, and seizing property belonging to an enemy. 
On the ist of August he sighted the Island of St. 
Michael's, and cut three ships out from under the guns 
of a castle, creating uproar and confusion in the prin- 
cipal port. The ships were laden with wine, pepper, 
and salad-oil, and on the 7 th another small vessel was 
captured between St. Michael's and Terceira, with a 
cargo of good Madeira wine, woollen cloth, and silk. 
When the predatory little squadron arrived at Flores, 
the most westerly island of the Azores, the Earl was 
able to keep on friendly terms with the inhabitants by 
paying for their fresh water and provisions in oil, wine, 
and pepper. Mr. Wright went on shore at Flores, and 
found the town of Santa Cruz in ruins, owing to attacks 
of English privateers. In returning to the ship, a huge 
fish, with jaws gaping a yard and a half wide, pursued 
his boat, and he feared it would be capsized, "but by 
rowing as hard as we could, God be praised, we escaped.'* 
The learned mathematician, who had gone to sea to 
observe the practical working of problems in nautical 
astronomy, was passing through strange experiences. 
- Captain Davis joined the Earl of Cumberland's squad- 
ron between Flores and Fayal in the Drake, and his 
Lordship's force was increased at the same time by the 
Barke of Lime under Captain Markesbury, and by a small 
vessel called the Saucy Jack. 

The Azores are divided into three clusters, Flores and 



84 



LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. 



[1587. 



Corvo to the west ; Fayal, Pico, St. George, Terceira, 
and Graciosa in the centre ; St. Michael's and St. Marg- 
in the east. Fayal is a beautiful island, so named from 
the beech forests with which it was covered at the time 
of its discovery in the fifteenth century. The hills rise 
from the seaside to high moorlands in the centre, cut 
here and there by deep ravines. The lower slopes are 
cultivated, while the hill-tops and moorlands are covered 






S'^G^ 



Grajsloaa. 
<5> 






THE AZORES. 

Scale 1:10.00)000. 



Ic^Ojels 



31 



Ougues. 



^^fMojy 



SSL. 



THE AZORES. 



with myrtle and other flowering shrubs. Fruit orchards 
abound in the neighbourhood of villages, and the vege^ 
tation is like that of the Riviera. The chief town, 
called Horta, is built along the stony shore of a road- 
stead which is much exposed to the prevailing winds, 
and from the sea-wall, or the steep hills overhanging 
the town, there is a magnificent view of the volcanic 
peak which forms the adjacent island of Pico. Fayal 
was colonised by Flemings in the days of the Portu- 
guese Duchess of Burgundy, and their descendants had 



1 59 1.] WAR SERVICES. 85 

as yet mingled their blood but slightly with that of 
the inhabitants of the Iberian peninsula. 

Cumberland's squadron reached Fayal Ptoads on the 
27th of August; and seeing some vessels at anchor, the 
Earl sent Captains Lister and Monson, with the Saucy 
Jack and some skiffs, to cut them out. A ship of 25Q 
tons with fourteen guns was moored under the fire of 
the castle. One English boat's crew boarded her over the 
quarter, another in the hawse. Most of the Spaniards 
jumped overboard. The prize was towed clear under a 
heavy fire from the castle, and was found to be laden 
with sugar, ginger, and hides from Puerto Rico. Three 
smaller vessels were also captured, with cargoes of ele- 
phants' teeth, grain, cocoa-nuts, and skins from Guinea. 
They were sent to England as prizes, and on the 31st 
the' squadron made sail in the direction of the island 
of Terceira. Next morning a boat under sail was 
sighted coming out from under the land. It proved to 
be manned by eight Englishmen who had escaped from 
imprisonment. Finding a boat on the beach, they 
shoved off and put out to sea, with no other yard for 
their mainsail than two barrel-staves fished together, 
and no provisions but what they could take in their 
pockets and bosoms. They brought certain intelligence 
that the rich West Indian galleons, for which the Earl 
of Cumberland was in search, had sailed for Spain a 
week before. 

For ten days the ships were delayed by calms or 
light and baffling winds in sight of Pico; and it was 
not until the loth of September that they entered 
Fayal Roads again, with the intention of attacking the 
town of Horta. Some of the leading inhabitants came 
on board the Victory, and were told that they must 



86 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1587. 

either surrender the castle until a ransom was paid 
for the town or abide the hazard of war. Don Diego 
Gomez, the governor, refused to surrender, and hosti- 
lities commenced. All boats were sent on shore, 
manned and armed, and the troops were landed on a 
small stretch of sandy beach about half a league from 
the castle, with the Earl of Cumberland at their head. 
Armed men, both horse and foot, were formed on a hill 
called the Cerro de Carneiro, which overlooks the town, 
and two companies of foot, with ensigns flying, were 
drawn up on' the seashore in front of the castle. The 
guns of the castle opened fire on the invading force as 
they were forming on the beach ; while the ships of the 
squadron continued to return the fire of the castle until 
the cross of St. George was seen flying over its ramparts. 
As the Earl advanced, the opposing force dispersed. 
He marched through the town without meeting any re- 
sistance, and took possession of the castle, which had 
been evacuated. 

The town of Horta then consisted of about 300 houses, 
well built of stone and lime, with roofs of red tiles. 
Every house had a cistern with a garden at the back. 
Vines with ripe clusters of grapes covered the walls, 
and afforded agreeable shade. Fig-trees, both green and 
red, orange, lemon, peach, and quince trees formed the 
orchards; while potato roots and the tobacco plant, 
which was already well known and used in England, 
were cultivated in the fields. The Earl gave strict 
orders that none of the churches or religious houses 
should be pillaged, and sentries were stationed to pro- 
tect them ; but the sailors and soldiers ransacked the 
private houses. The occupation continued for three 
days, when the inhabitants paid a ransom of 2000 



I59I.] WAE SERVICES. 87 

ducats, chiefly ia church-plate. The castle was then set 
on fire, and the ordnance was either taken or rendered 
unserviceable. It consisted of fifty-eight iron guns, of 
which twenty-three had been mounted on a platform 
facing the sea. 

Peace was thus restored. The governor only came 
once to parley about the ransom, and declined all friendly 
intercourse ; but four of the principal inhabitants of 
Horta, doubtless men of Flemish descent, accepted an 
invitation to come on board the Victory to dinner. 
They were hospitably entertained, and solemnly dis- 
missed to the sound of drum and trumpet and a peal of 
ordnance. A letter was §iven to them from the Earl 
of Cumberland, requesting all Englishmen who should 
visit the place in future to refrain from molesting them, 
except for fresh provisions and water. Next day a 
strong breeze sprang up from W.S.W., the prevailing 
quarter at that time of year, and the ships were obliged 
to weigh and stand along the land. The gale continued, 
with heavy rain, for several days, while the squadron 
worked off and on or lay-to in sight of St. George 
Island. 

On the 23rd of September the Earl of Cumberland 
returned to Eayal Roads to recover an anchor, and was 
received as a friend. The officers landed to see the 
town of Horta, and to buy anything they wanted, just 
as if they had been in England, while the inhabitants 
helped the sailors in the work of filling their water- 
casks. Here John Davis and Edward Wright may 
have met, and most probably did meet, though doubtless 
not for the first time, conversing under the pleasant 
shade of vines, or during walks in the vicinity of the 
town. One was the best practical observer among the 



88 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1587. 

seamen of his time, the other was the most accomplished 
mathematical student. Davis invented an improved 
instrument for observing the heavenly bodies. Wright 
discovered the method of constructing charts on Mer- 
cator's projection by the use of tables of meridional 
parts. The town of Horta must have had a special 
interest for these accomplished geographers ; for it was 
long the home of one of the most eminent of their pre- 
decessors. Martin Behaim of Nuremburg, the inventor 
of an astrolabe for use at sea, and the constructor of 
the earliest globe now extant, was a contemporary of 
Columbus. A century before Davis and "Wright met 
at Horta, Behaim married the daughter of its founder, 
and was settled there for several years. 

On the 25th a gale sprung up so suddenly in the night, 
that the Earl himself aroused the men, worked at the 
capstan with them, and afterwards cheered them up with 
wine. On the ist of October they were off Graciosa, 
and Captain Davis was sent in, with two boats full of 
empty casks and about fifty men, to fill up with water. 
They met with a determined resistance, and as they 
pulled along the shore, seeking for a safe landing-place, 
troops of men followed with ensigns displayed. Thirteen 
of the boats' crews were wounded by their fire, and three 
by the fire of a great piece which the country-people 
dragged about with oxen. A retreat became necessary ; 
and as it would be dangerous to attempt a landing, the 
Earl sent a message on shore that he would excuse their 
conduct for the sake of his friend King Antonio. ^ Next 

1 Philip II. had seized Portugal as heir to the Cardinal Henry, 
the last king. Antonio, Prior of Crato, was an illegrtimate son of 
one of old King Henry's brothers. He was a pretender, and was 
acknowledged as King of Portugal by England and Holland. He 
married a sister of Prince Maurice of Orange. 



IS9I-] WAR SERVICES. - 89 

day a flag of truce came from the shore with excuses, 
and the chief inhabitants offered to supply wine and 
fresh provisions. They said that they only had rain- 
water stored in cisterns, and that they would sooner give 
two tons of wine than one ton of water. Captain Davis 
remained at anchor before the town to receive the pro- 
mised provisions from the people of Graciosa, while the 
Victory went for a short cruise, and captured a French 
ship laden with fish from Newfoundland. 

From this time the squadron began to suffer seriously 
from the difficulty of getting fresh water. Attempts 
to land for water on the island of St. Michael's were 
repulsed by the inhabitants. They next went to St. 
Mary's, the easternmost island of the group. The Earl of 
Cumberland had been joined by a most valuable officer 
in the person of Captain Amy as Preston, who had 
behaved with distinguished gallantry at Calais Roads in 
the previous year. He had come out in his own ship, 
but had lost sight of her one night, perhaps when dining 
with the Earl, and was now forced to stay on board the 
Victory. At St. Mary's Captains Davis, Lister, and 
Preston were sent in with their boats, and a friendly 
letter asking to be allowed to water. Resistance was 
made to their landing, on which Davis boarded a ship 
at anchor. She was fast aground, and he was obliged to 
retire before a heavy fire from the shore. One prize, 
laden with sugar, was towed out, but the English lost 
two men killed and sixteen wounded. On the 25th of 
October about six tons of water were obtained from a 
stream falling over a cliff on St. George Island ; and on 
the 31st the Margaret, as she was leaking badly, and 
the prize taken at St. Mary's, were sent direct to Eng- 
land with the sick and wounded. Captain Davis kept 



90 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1587. 

company with the Earl of Cumberland in a cruise to- 
wards the coast of Portugal, and they were so successful 
in the capture of important prizes, that^ by the middle 
of November, they were unable to man any more, and 
consequently made sail for England. 

No account of the voyage home of the Drake has been 
preserved, but Master Wright has given a graphic de- 
scription of the sufferings of the people on board the 
Victorij from want of water. Strong easterly gales 
delayed their return for weeks. They were driven to 
leeward, and could not fetch any part of Ireland. Tho 
allowance was reduced to half a pint, then to a quarter. 
At last they could only have three or four spoonfuls of 
vinegar at their meals, or some liquor wrung out of the 
wine-lees. They remained in this condition for a fort- 
night, when a fall of hail relieved their sufferings, 
" We ate the hailstones more pleasantly than if they 
had been the sweetest comfits in the world. Raindrops 
were carefully saved ; sheets, napkins, and clouts being 
hung up to receive them." At length, on the 2nd of 
December, they anchored in Yentry harbour, and the 
Earl hurried on shore to get fresh water and provisions 
for the refreshment of his people. On their passage to 
England they were delayed by light winds, and "were 
faine to keep a cold Christmas with the Bishop and his 
Clerks." * They landed at Ealmouth two days after 
Christmas, and received the melancholy intelligence that 
their best prize had been shipwrecked on the coast of 
Cornwall, and that their gallant comrade, Captain Lister, 
who went home in charge of her, had been drowned. 

The Earl of Cumberland's f?quadron captured thirteen 
prizes, and John Davis of course received his share of 

* Rocks off St. David's. 



1 59 1.] WAK SERVICES. 91 

the prize-money. Davis continued his cruises during the 
following year, with ships under Captains Middleton and 
Harvey as consorts. Middleton was probably the same 
officer who brought the news of the approach of the 
Spanish fleet to Sir Richard Grenville at Flores in 1591, 

when — 

" His pinnace like a fluttered bird 
Came fl}'ing from far away." 

One of their prizes, called the Uggera Salvagnia, became 
the subject of a lawsuit, the goods being claimed by 
Philip Corsini and other Italian merchants in London. 
Sir Walter Raleigh acted on behalf of Davis, and in 
February 1591 the matter was settled by a compromise. 
These services, performed with a view to harassing 
the Queen's enemy and destroying his commerce, were 
satisfactory in their results, by enriching Captain Davis, 
and enabling him to join in the conduct of an enterprise 
which was far more to his taste. He was again placed 
in a position to undertake an expedition having geo- 
graphical discovery for its main object. 



CHAPTER VI. 

PREPARATIONS FOR THE SOUTH, 

John Davis was so successful during his cruise to the 
Azores, and in the capture of Spanish prizes generally, 
that he was able once more to turn his attention to 
the great work of discovery. He now possessed means 
which placed him in a position to take his share in the 
expense of equipping an expedition. Circumstances led 
him to conceive the idea of making the dreaded voy- 
age through Magellan's Strait, of navigating the South 
Sea, and of discovering the northern passage from the 
western, instead of the eastern side. For he was ever 
faithful to the project of increasing the wealth and pro- 
sperity of his country by discoveriug that passage by 
one way or the other. His bold conception of achieving 
the great enterprise from the Pacific side appears to 
have been partly due to his acquaintance with Thomas 
Cavendish, who was then anxious to undertake a second 
voyage through Magellan's Strait, and partly owing to 
his sharing the knowledge which his friend Sir Walter 
Baleigh had acquired from special sources at about the 
same time. We may, therefore, imagine John Davis 
holding consultations with Sir Walter Raleigh and 
Adrian Gilbert during the spring of the year 1591, at 

which they would have passed in review all that was 

9Z 



1519-91.] PREPARATIONS FOR THE SOUTH. 93 

known of Magellan's Sti^ait, and the arguments for and 
against the hazardous attempt. In order that we may 
be able to understand and appreciate the views of Davis, 
it will be well that we too should take stock of the 
knowledge within his reach, and cast a glance over the 
history of previous voyages to the South Sea. 

Ever since Columbus, in his fourth voyage, had failed 
to discover a strait after diligent search along the 
Spanish Main, the quest had been continued from time 
to time along the east coast of South America. The 
announcement of Yasco Nunez de Balboa that there 
was indeed another ocean, gave still greater importance 
to the discovery of a naviga.ble route from the Atlantic 
to that vast South Sea, the navigation of which must 
lead to India and the Spice Islands. Charles Y., there- 
fore, received a proposal from Fernao de Magelhaes (Fer- 
dinand Magellan), a distinguished Portuguese navigator, 
to attempt the discovery of a passage, with complacency. 
Magellan argued that by continuing the passage south- 
wards along the east coast of South America, either the 
land must come to an end, or there must be a strait 
through it. He was intrusted with the command of an 
expedition consisting of five vessels, the Trinidad and 
San Antonio, of 130 tons each, the Victoria, Cojicepciouy 
and Santiago, of 90 tons; and on the 20th of September 
1 5 1 9 he sailed from Seville. 

Magellan was placed in a very difficult position owing 
to his Portuguese nationality. The captains of the other 
ships were all Spaniards, who regarded the elevation of 
a foreigner to command them with thinly disguised jeal- 
ousy and resentment. There were several misunder- 
standings on the way out, and one of the captains had 
been actually superseded by a Portuguese adherent of 



94 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1519. 

Magellan, when the fleet arrived at Port St. Julian, 
on the coast of Patagonia, in April 1520. Here a 
mutiny broke out, but its suppression was prompt and 
ruthless. One Spanish captain was stabbed to death 
on his own quarter-deck, another was strangled, and a 
third was put on shore and abandoned to his fate. Of 
all the leading Spaniards, there only remained the chief 
pilot, Juan Rodriguez Serrano, and Sebastian del Cano, 
the pilot of the Victoria. Serrano was sent to examine 
the coast to the southward of Port St. Julian in the 
Santiago, and he discovered the mouth of the Santa 
Cruz river. But his vessel was forced on shore and 
wrecked. He and his men succeeded in making their 
way back to Port St. Julian by a land journey. 

It was not until the middle of October that Magellan 
resumed his southerly course with his fleet of four ships, 
and on the 21st he was off a headland where the coast 
turned to the west. He seems to have assumed at once 
that he had found the long-sought-for strait. It was 
the Feast of St. Ursula, and he called the cape which 
appeared to point the way to his famous discovery by 
the name of the Ten thousand Virgins. The smaller 
vessels were sent on ahead, and they reported a strait 
with very deep water. When Magellan anchored a few 
leagues within it, he had three months' provisions left. 

For many days Magellan sailed on through the strait. 
He saw fires at night on the southern side, and named 
the land *'Tierra del Fuego." Then he came to coasts 
bordered by woods of tall trees and dense underwood, 
while far to the south he beheld a snowy peak piercing 
the stormy clouds. He gave it the name of " Campana 
de Roldan," — the bell of Roldan, — calling it after an 
ofiicer of artillery, one of the few who were destined 



1 59 1.] PREPAEATIONS FOE THE SOUTH. 95 

ever to return home. The length of the strait alarmed 
the people, and there were murmurs against continuing 
the voyage. When the channel appeared to branch into 
two openings, and the San Antonio was sent to examine 
one of them, she took the opportunity of deserting her 
consorts and returning to Spain. Magellan was a man 
of a cruel and savage disposition ; he was harsh and 
unconciliatory ; but his perseverance was indomitable, 
his nerve of iron. He was hated and feared by his 
followers. He now told them that they should eat the 
chafing-mats ou the rigging before they should return, 
and that no man should speak of going back on pain 
of death. After having been thirty-seven days in the 
strait, Magellan entered the South Sea on the 27th of 
November 1520, naming the headland to the south 
Cape Deseado. He reckoned the length of the strait to 
be no leagues, which was not very far from the truth. 
He then stretched boldly across the Pacific Ocean, and 
x'eached the i.slands of the farther east. There the man 
who had so ruthlessly slaughtered his own comrades at 
Port St. Julian was himself butchered by the natives, 
while the high honour of circumnavigating the globe for 
the first time was reserved for one with cleaner hands 
and a better conscience. 

Sebastian del Cano was a Basque from the picturesque 
little town of Guetaria, on the shores of the Bay of 
Biscay. Steeped in the heroic traditions of his native 
land, brave, enthusiastic, and loyal, the young Basque 
pilot was at the same time so courteous and considerate 
that he was generally beloved. He sailed as pilot on 
board the Victoria, and when that ship alone remained 
out of the fleet of five vessels which originally sailed 
from Seville, Sebastian del Cano was unanimously elected 



Q6 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1519. 

to be the commander who should bring her home, and 
be the first to sail round the world. He arrived at 
Seville on the 6th of September 1522, after an absence 
of four years all but fourteen days. It wajS a memor- 
able achievement, and marks an epoch in maritime 
history. A knowledge of it was slow to spread among 
the countries of Europe, but wherever this first circum- 
navigation became known, and especially in England, 
it created a deep impression. The Spanish Government 
at once perceived the immense significance of the dis- 
covery of this western route to India, and resolved to 
fit out a second expedition with all possible dispatch. 

A fleet consisting of six ships and a pataca, or small 
tender, was got ready under the orders of Garcia Jofre 
de Loaysa, while Sebastian del Cano was his second in 
command and chief pilot. As Cano was a native of the 
north of Spain, and recruited from the Biscayan and 
Galician ports, the fleet was assembled at Coruiia.. 
Loaysa was on board a vessel of 300 tons named the 
Santa Maria de la Victoria, while Cano commanded a 
smaller vessel of 200 tons called the Santo Espiritu. 
The other four ships were the Anunciada, of 170 tons, 
under Pedro de Yera, the San Gabriel, commanded by 
Rodrigo de Acuna, and two small vessels of eighty tons 
each, called the Santa Maria del Parrel and the St. 
Lesmes, under Jorge Manrique de Najera and Francisco 
de Hozes. The fleet sailed from Coruiia on the 24th of 
July 1525 under very happy auspices; for the men were 
loyal to their officers, the most cordial relations were 
always preserved between Loaysa and his captains, and 
the expedition had the great advantage of being piloted 
by the first circumnavigator. In the first days of 1526 
the fleet was off Cape Virgins ; but unfortunately the 



I59I.] PREPAEATIONS FOR THE SOUTH. 97 

Santo Espiritu was wrecked near the point, and Sebastian 
del Cano was taken on board the admiral. The Lesmes 
ran before a gale as far south as 55°, and her captain, 
Francisco de Hozes, was the discoverer of the long 
island on the east side of Tierra del Fuego which has 
since been known as Staten Island. Bad weather obliged 
the fleet to return to the Santa Cruz river, but on the 
8th of April 1526 three ships entered the strait. Obser- 
vations were taken of the currents of the part of the 
strait where the tides meet, of the number of sounds and 
inlets on either coast, and of the vegetation on the sea 
shores. On the 26th of May, after having been forty- 
eight days in the strait, the fleet entered the South Sea 
and began the long voyage to the Moluccas. But Loay!=^a 
died at sea on the 26th of July, and Sebastian del Cano 
followed his chief only four days afterwards. They 
were buried in the midst of the Pacific Ocean, and thus 
Cano found a grave in the centre of the great discovery 
in which he had a part. For he it was, and not Ma- 
gellan, who first circumnavigated the globe. His expedi- 
tion, which was well conducted, deserved a better fate. 
The ships eventually reached the Moluccas, and their 
presence acted as a spur to the Peninsular Governments 
to complete negotiations for the settlement of their 
boundary dispute. 

A treaty was concluded between Spain and Portugal 
in 1525. whereby the region west of a meridian 17° E. 
of the Moluccas was recognised as belonging to the 
latter power, which was thus secured in quiet possession 
of the Spice Islands, Spain retaining the Philippines. 
Hence the third Spanish expedition fitted out for the 
Strait of Magellan was not ostensibly intended to cross 
the Pacific, but to explore the southern coasts of South 

a 



98 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [15 19. 

America. Two ships were dispatched from San Lucar 
under the command of Simon de Alcazova, who sailed 
on the 2ist of September 1534. His voyage was a 
complete failure. After reaching the entrance of the 
strait, Alcazova returned to a port in Patagonia called 
" Puerto de Leones y Lobos " — the harbour of sea-lions 
and seals — whence he undertook an exploring expedi- 
tion inland in March 1535. But he was very corpulent 
and in ill-health. He returned to his ship, and was 
soon afterwards murdered by some mutineers, who were 
repressed and punished by the loyal part of the crew. 
One ship was lost on the Brazilian coast, and the other 
eventually reached St. Domingo in the West Indies. 

The wonderful advance of Spanish discovery along 
the west coast of South America from Panama led to 
the entrance of Magellan Strait from the western side. 
Pizarro conquered Peru in 1533. On the 18th of Janu- 
ary 1535 the city of Lima was founded, and five years 
afterwards Pedro de Yaldivia had extended the domi- 
nions of Spain over Chile. In 155 1 he founded the 
town of Yaldivia at the southern extremity of the 
Chilian province. This intrepid conqueror had formed 
a plan of returning to Spain by the Strait of Magellan, 
and he dispatched two vessels from Valdivia, under the 
command of Francisco de Ulloa, on a voyage of recon- 
naissance. Ulloa discovered the western coasts of the 
archipelago of islands which skirts the South American 
continent between Chile and the Strait of Magellan. 
But the death of Valdivia, the conqueror of Chile, in 
that famous battle with the Araucanian Indians which 
is poetically described in the epic of Ercilla, put an end 
to his projects. 
'' It was not until 1557 that any further expedition was 



1591.] PKEPARATIONS FOE THE SOUTH. 99 

organised in Chile. It is sufficiently marvellous that 
anything of the kind should have been attempted by the 
first settlers in the Chilian province, who were engaged 
in a doubtful struggle with the brave and indomitable 
Araucanian Indians, and who were so many hundreds 
of miles from their sources of supply. There is nothing 
that gives us a more striking idea of the extraordinary 
energy and pluck of the early Spanish conquerors than 
the fact that a mere handful of .them, while engaged in 
a desperate struggle for life with a numerous and most 
formidable enemy, should be coolly engaged in equipping 
exploring expeditions. Yet such was the work of young 
Don Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza, the Captain-General 
who succeeded Valdivia in the government of Chile. 
He fitted out two vessels, called the San Luis and the 
San Sebastian, under the command of Juan de Ladril- 
leros, with the two Gallegos, Hernan and Pedro, as 
pilots. Ladrilleros sailed from Valdivia in November 
1557, examined the coast to the southward, and wintered 
in the strait. He explored the channels as far as the 
eastern entrance at Cape Virgins, and defined the out- 
lines of the island of Chiloe and of the Chonos Archi- 
pelago. But his survey was conducted in the face of 
the most appalling hardships and sufferings. Nearly 
the whole of his crew perished of cold and hunger. 
He navigated his vessel back to Chile with the aid of 
two survivors. Such were the deeds performed by those 
heroic Spaniards who made known to the world the 
geography of South America. The English were their 
i-ivals, and followed close in their footsteps, but no people 
could excel the countrymen of Sebastian del Cano and of 
Juan de Ladrilleros in gallantry and perseverance. 
The general belief of geographers during the sixteenth 



100 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1519. 

century was that the Strait of Magellan divided South 
America from a southern continent of vast extent. It 
"was not until Cape Horn was rounded by the Dutch 
expedition of Schouten and Le Maire in 16 16 that this 
theory was partly abandoned, and it continued to hold a 
place in the speculations of geographers until it was 
finally exploded by the voyage of Captain Cook. 

It would be very interesting to know to what extent 
Sir Francis Drake was acquainted with the discoveries 
of the Spaniards, and with their voyages to the Strait of 
Magellan, when he undertook his own famous voyage of 
circumnavigation. The narrative of Magellan's voyage 
was written by the Italian Antonio Pigafetta, who was 
a volunteer in the expedition, and came home on board 
the Victoria. The earliest printed edition of his work 
is in French, and is believed to have been published in 
about 1525, and the first Italian edition, translated from 
the French text, appeared at Venice in 1536. Another 
brief narrative by Maximilian Transylvanus, who had 
collected his information direct from the crew of the 
Victoria, was printed at Cologne in 1523, and in Rome 
in 1524. There can, therefore, be no doubt that Drake 
was well acquainted with the history of Magellan's 
voyage, but he probably knew little about the voyage of 
Loaysa, and nothing of the expeditions sent from Chile, 
while the Spanish maps and charts were always jealously 
guarded by the maritime authorities at Seville. 

Drake had already seen the South Sea from the hills 
of Darien, and his imagination was fired with the enthusi- 
astic desire of emulating the achievement of Magellan. 
He was introduced to the Queen by his patron. Sir 
Christopher Hatton, and the daring seaman's enterprise 
received her approbation. But the ships belonged to 



1591.] PREPARATIONS FOR THE SOUTH. 101 

Drake and to private friends, who furnished the means of 
equipping the expedition. The fleet consisted of Drake's 
own ship, the Pelican, of loo tons, of the Elizabeth, under 
Captain Winter, of eighty tons, the Marigold, thirty, 
Swan, fifty, and Christopher pinnace of fifteen tons. 
When it is remembered that, since the voyage of Loaysa, 
the Spaniards themselves had discontinued the use of 
Magellan's Strait owing to the diflBculties and dangers 
of the route, some idea may be formed of the reckless 
audacity of these Englishmen in undertaking the voyage 
with such small vessels. On the 15th of November 1577 
they sailed from Plymouth with a fair wind. 

Drake's fleet anchored in Port St. Julian, the scene 
of Magellan's sanguinary proceedings, on the 20th of 
June 1578, and here a somewhat similar scene was 
enacted. Mr. Thomas Doughty, a volunteer in one of 
the ships, was accused of conspiring to create a mutiny, 
and was beheaded. There is no reason to doubt that 
Drake was convinced of Doughty's guilt, and that, 
under the peculiar circumstances he believed the execu- 
tion to be a necessity. The fleet, now reduced to the 
three larger ships, sailed from Port St. Julian on the 
17th, and was off Cape Virgins on the 20th of August. 
Here Drake changed the name of his ship from the 
Pelican to the Golden Hind, which was the crest of his 
patron. Sir Christopher Hatton. At a distance of four 
leagues the land was sighted, and as they approached 
there appeared a line of high and steep grey cliffs, full 
of black spots, with the sea throwing up spray along their 
bases like the spouting of whales. 

Drake then entered the strait, and passing through 
the Angosturas or N'arrows, he came to what appeared 
like " a large and main sea." Still advancing, he met 



102 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [15 19. 

with sinuous windings, numerous islands, and contrary 
winds, obliging him to anchor frequently. The explorers 
acknowledged that Magellan's account was true as to the 
good harbours and abundance of fresh water, but the 
gales were so frequent and the anchorages so precarious, 
that "a. ship navigating the strait had need to be 
freighted with nothing else but anchors and cables." 
Nevertheless, Master Fletcher, the historian of the 
Voyage, was enraptured with the beauty of the scenery. 
He mentions the lofty peaks towering above the clouds, 
the evergreen trees, the variety of plants, the climate 
like that of England, "a place no doubt that lacketh 
nothing but a people to use the same to the Creator's 
glory and the increasing of the Church." Drake entered 
the Pacific on the 6th of September, having only been 
sixteen days in the strait. He estimated its length at 
150 leagues. 

A furious gale was encountered on the day after 
leaving the strait, and the ships were separated. The 
Golden Hind was driven far to the south, and Drake 
was probably the first to sight Cape Horn. ' The Mari- 
gold parted company, and was never heard of again, 
and Captain Winter, with the Elizabeth, re-entered the 
strait, abandoned his chief, and returned to England. 
Winter was three weeks in the strait on his way home, 
recruiting the health of his crew. His sojourn is ren- 
dered memorable, according to Clusius, owing to his 
having discovered the medicinal virtues of an aromatic 
bark of which he made use as a cure for scurvy during 
his homeward voyage. The tree was first accurately 
described by Forster, the botanist of Cooke's second 
voyage, in 1773. The bark was called Cortex Winteranus 
by Clusius, and is well known as ** Winter's ba,rk." For- 



1591.] PREPAEATIONS FOE THE SOUTH. 103 

ster named the tree Drimys Winteri. It grows abun- 
dantly to a height of forty feet in the strait, but becomes 
a shrub ten feet high on the western shores. 

Having lost both her consorts, the Golden Hind con- 
tinued her lonely course along the western coast of 
America. Drake's discovery of the coast of North 
America, beyond the farthest point reached by the 
Spaniards at Cape Mendocino, had a special interest 
for Davis and his friends in studying the events of the 
voyage ; for this newly-discovered coast seemed to be 
the portal to a passage round the northern shores of 
America from the Pacific side. Drake left Guatalco, 
on the Mexican coast, on the i6th of April 1579, and 
was many days at sea working to the northward. His 
reckoning showed that the Golden Hind had gone over 
1400 leagues without seeing any land. It became very 
cold, and the explorers at length sighted the coast of 
America at a point as far north as 48"^, a little to the 
south of the Straits of San Juan de Fuca. The land 
appeared to be of moderate height, and every hill was 
covered with snow in the month of June, For many 
years this was the most northerly known point on the 
west coast of America. Mr. Fletcher here states that 
** though we searched the coast diligently even unto the 
48th degree, yet found we not the land to trend so much 
as one point in anj place towards the east.'* 

Drake, as is well known, circumnavigated the globe, 
and arrived safely at Plymouth on the 26th of Septem- 
ber 1580. The Queen, to show her approval of his con- 
duct, and her sense of the value of his achievement, 
dined on board his ship at Deptford, and conferred upon 
the illustrious seaman the honour of knighthood. 

There was a Spanish voyage, the particulars of which 



104 LIFE or J0H:J^ DAVIS. [15 19. 

became known in England through its having been 
translated by Linschoten, which also had a special inte- 
rest for John Davis in connection with the northern 
discoveries of Drake on the west coast. In the year 
1582 Francisco Gali (or de Gualle) sailed from Mexico 
to the Philippines, and in 1584 he returned. Gali re- 
ported that the currents east of Japan flowed to the 
north in a wide sea, and he concluded that there 
must consequently be a passage between Mexico or Cali- 
fornia and Asia. He reached the American coast in 
37° 30' N. This report of Gali, combined with Drake's 
testimony that the American coast was still trending 
northwards in 48°, furnished the arguments by which 
Davis formed his conclusion that a passage might be 
found from the Pacific round the north side of America. 
Of this he felt little doubt. But he was impressed with 
the difficulties connected with the navigation of Magel- 
lan's Strait, and his misgivings on this point were not 
lessened by a consideration of the voyages subsequent to 
Drake's circumnavigation. 

It was believed by the Viceroy of Peru, Don Prancisco 
de Toledo, that Drake would attempt to return by the 
way he came, and it was resolved that an expedition 
should be sent to the Strait of Magellan to intercept 
him. Advantage was to be taken of the opportunity to 
execute a careful survey of the strait, and to report 
upon the best means of fortifying it, so as to prevent its 
use by the enemies of Spain. At that time there was 
an able and experienced seaman in Peru, who was 
admirably fitted for the command of such an expedi- 
tion. Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa was an accomplished 
scholar, a scientific geographer, and an intrepid explorer. 
He had been many years in Peru, and his first maritime 



1591.] PREPAKATIONS FOE THE SOUTH. 105 

attempt had been inspired by the accurate knowledge 
he possessed of the ancient traditions of the Incas. He 
learnt from the Peruvian Amautas, or learned men, that 
one of the Incas, named Tupac Yupanqui, had sent a 
fleet of the boats used by the aboriginal natives of the 
Peruvian coast to sail towards the setting sun ; that 
they reached two islands called Ahuachumbi and Nina- 
chumhi, and returned. Cabello Balboa, an author who 
wrote in about 1586, mentions the same tradition. 
Sarmiento undertook an expedition from Peru to dis- 
cover these islands, and succeeded. Unfortunately all 
record of this interesting voyage is lost. The experience 
thus acquired by Sarmiento led to his appointment to a 
post in the expedition of Alvaro de Mandana, which 
sailed from Callao in 1567, and discovered the Solomon 
Islands. His advice as to the course that should be 
steered led directly to this discovery, and he headed 
exploring parties to examine the interior of Santa 
Isabella, the largest island of the group. Sarmiento 
was the author of a report on Mandana's voyage, and of 
a history of the Incas of Peru, but both these works 
are lost to posterity. Sarmiento also drew the map 
accompanying the elaborate pictorial representations 
of the traditions and pedigree of the Incas, which was 
prepared by order of the Viceroy Toledo, and sent to 
King Philip II. 

Sarmiento fitted out his expedition to Magellan Strait 
at Callao, the seaport of Lima. It consisted of two 
vessels, the Esperanza and San Francisco. Sarmiento 
himself embarked on board the former, with the pilots 
Anton Pablos Corzo and Hernando Alonzo, while Juan 
de Yillalobos commanded the San Francisco, with 
Hernando Lamero as pilot. There was a crew of about 



106 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [15 19. 

fifty men on board each vessel. On the nth of October 
1579 Sarmiento sailed from Callao. After exploring 
some of the channels in the Chonos Archipelago, he 
entered the strait in January 1580; but his colleague 
Yillalobos proved to be remiss and untrustworthy, and 
eventually parted company. Thus weakened in the 
means at his command, Sarmiento set diligently to work 
to survey the strait. He made numerous boat expedi- 
tions so as to delineate the coast-lines in more detail, 
gave names to points, islands, and inlets, and sounded 
the channels and anchorages. On the nth of February 
he anchored in a bay which he named Bahia de la 
Gente, and a river which empties itself into the bay was 
called San Juan. The place was afterwards known as 
Port Famine, and here Sarmiento erected a cross, and 
took formal possession in the name of the King of Spain. 
He selected two points in the narrowest part of the 
strait near the eastern entrance, which seemed suitable 
positions for forts to command the passage, and passing 
Cape Virgins, he entered the Atlantic on the 24th of 
February 1580. 

Sarmiento arrived in Spain in August 1580, and 
presented his journals and charts to the King at 
Badajos. He urged that the strait might be com- 
pletely guarded by building two forts to command the 
channel in the eastern Angosturas or Narrows, and that 
there were suitable sites for a colony farther up the 
strait, Philip, after some consideration, decided on the 
adoption of Sarmiento's scheme. A fleet of twenty- 
three ships was equipped at Seville, in three divisions, 
the first to convey a new Captain-General to Chile, the 
second for Brazil, and the third, under Sarmiento, to 
settle a colony in the straits, but the whole fleet was 



I59I.] PREPAEATIONS FOR THE SOUTH. 107 

first to see Sarmiento established. The command in 
chief was given to Don Diego Flores de Valdes, and the 
fleet sailed from Seville on the 25th of September 1581. 
But they encountered a gale of wind, and seven vessels 
were driven on shore or disabled, including the Esperanza^ 
in which Sarmiento had surveyed the strait. The rest 
put back to Cadiz in a shattered condition ; and when the 
fleet again sailed in December, it only numbered sixteen 
vessels. Disaster followed this ill-fated expedition from 
the outset. After wintering at E,io, the fleet sailed for 
the strait; but in December 1582 the Riola, one of the 
largest ships, with most of the stores for the colony, 
sprung a leak, and went down at sea with all hands. 
Three other ships were left behind disabled. At length 
the irresolute Flores got as far as the Narrows, but his 
ships were driven out of the strait by a gale of wind, 
and abandoning all further attempts for that year, he 
returned to Rio. Flores then gave up the command, 
appointing Diego de E-ibera to succeed him, and to co- 
operate with Sarmiento in fortifying the strait. 

Kibera and Sarmiento reached their destination in 
February 1584; but, after encountering heavy gales of 
wind, Ptibera deserted, leaving Sarmiento with only one 
ship, called the Maria, and the charge of a number of 
colonists who had been landed. Sarmiento found him- 
self with 400 men, thirty women, and provisions for 
eight months. The first settlement was formed near the 
eastern entrance, and was called "Nombre de Jesus." 
Here 150 men were established under Andres de Yiedma. 
The Maria was then sent to Point Santa Ana, within 
the Narrows, while Sarmiento marched to the same place 
by land with the rest of the colonists. A settlement 
was formed close to the point, which received the name 



108 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1519 

of " San Felipe," and wooden houses were erected. 
Sarmiento then went on board the Maria with the 
intention of returning to Nombre de Jesus, giving in- 
structions to Yiedma respecting ' the fortification of 
the strait, and then proceeding to Chile for supplies. 
But a violent storm drove him from his anchors, and 
after beating against it for three weeks, he was forced 
to abandon the struggle and bear up for Brazil. He 
procured a bark at Bio, which he loaded with meal and 
dispatched to the colonists. His difficulties, owing to 
the hostility of the local authorities, were so great, that 
he gave up the attempt to obtain further supplies in 
Brazil, and sailed for Spain in April 1585. No further 
succour was sent to the unhappy settlers. 

Sarmiento was unfortunate to the last. On her way 
home the Maria was attacked by three English vessels 
belonging to Sir Walter Baleigh near the Azores, and 
captured. The illustiious Spaniard enjoyed the hospi- 
talities of Durham House, and he had the honour of 
being presented to the Queen by his host. There was 
probably no man living who had so complete a know- 
ledge of subjects in which Baleigh was interested as his 
illustrious prisoner. Their conversations must have 
been most agreeable to both host and guest, and while 
Baleigh acquired a knowledge of Peruvian history and 
of the Straits of Magellan, Sarmiento enjoyed the society 
of one of the most accomplished and best-read courtiers 
in Europe. Eventually the Queen was graciously pleased 
to set the great Spanish navigator at liberty, and to 
present him with a thousand crowns. He returned to 
Spain, and we last hear of him as being in command of 
troops at the Philippines. 

English adventurers, after the successful circumnavi- 



IS9I.] PREPAEATIONS FOR THE SOUTH. 109 

gation of Sir Francis Drake, were stimulated to imitate 
his example. In 1586 the Earl of Cumberland fitted 
out two vessels, the Clifford of 260 and a bark of 150 
tons, commanded by Robert Witherington and Chris- 
topher Lister, to make a voyage into the South Seas. 
They never reached the strait. Remaining on the 
Brazilian coast, they cruised for Spanish prizes, but 
the only valuable result of their voyage was the capture 
of Lopez Yaz, the historian of the West Indies and the 
South Sea, with his manuscript. This fortunate prize 
furnished detailed information of Spanish discoveries 
down to the abandonment of the ill-fated colony in the 
Straits of Magellan. The manuscript was translated by 
Hakluyt ; but we are not informed whether the author, 
or only the produce of his brain, was brought to 
England. 

Thomas Cavendish, the second English circumnavi- 
gator, was a native of Frimley St. Martin in Suffolk, of 
the same family as the Dukes of Devonshire. He is 
first heard of as captain of a ship of his own in the 
expedition which Sir Richard Grenville commanded for 
Sir Walter Raleigh, with the object of planting an expe- 
dition in Virginia. He accompanied Grenville on his 
inland journey, and returned to England with him in 
September 1585. On his return Cavendish began the 
equipment of an expedition of his own, to follow in the 
footsteps of Drake round the world. 

Cavendish had three vessels, his own ship, the Desire 
of 140 tons, the Content of sixty, and the Hugh Gallant of 
forty tons. Mr. Francis Pretty, of Eye in Suffolk, the 
historian of the voyage, sailed in the Hugh Gallant, 
while some valuable sailing directions were written by 
Thomas Fuller of Ipswich, the master of the Besin^ 



110 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [15 19. 

Sailing from Plymouthi on the 21st of July 1586, they 
anchored in a harbour in 47° 50' S., on the coast of Pata- 
gonia, on the 17th of December, which Cavendish named 
Port Desire. Pretty describes the sea-lions and the 
abundance of birds on an island three leagues south-east 
of the entrance, which was named Penguin Island. The 
rise and fall of the tide admitted of the ships being 
careened, but the great drawback was the scarcity of 
fresh water. Some was found by digging, but it was 
brackish. Cavendish left Port Desire on the 28th, and 
on January 6, 1587, he entered the Strait of Magellan 
and anchored in the iirst Narrow. 

Next morning, Cavendish, having observed lights dur- 
ing the night, pulled to the shore in his boat, and saw 
three men who made signals with a flag. They proved 
to be part of the garrison which Sarmiento had landed 
to guard the strait. They were in dreadful distress. 
Cavendish offered to take them on board and land them 
on the coast of Peru. One man, named Tome Hernan- 
dez, stepped into the boat. They said that, besides 
themselves, there were only fifteen survivors, twelve 
men and three women. The rest had perished of cold 
and hunger, through ignorance of the means of obtain- 
ing supplies of birds and fish. Cavendish told the two 
other men to return to their comrades, and tell them 
- that he would take them all on board. The boat then 
left the shore. 

When Cavendish came on board, he found that a fair 
wind had sprung up, so he immediately made sail, and 
inhumanly left the unhappy survivors of the colony of 
Sarmiento to their fate. Hernandez subsequently made 
a declaration respecting the proceedings of the colonists 
after the departure of Sarmiento in February 1584. 



I59I.] PEEPAEATIONS FOE THE SOUTH. Ill 

Many died during the winter, and the ensuing summer 
was passed in anxious expectation of the arrival of a 
ship to relieve them. Yiedma, who was in command, 
built two small boats out of the trees, and embarked his 
people in 1585. But one was wrecked with most of the 
stores, and the attempt was abandoned because the re- 
maining boat would not hold all the survivors. He 
determined to separate the party in small divisions, in 
the hope that, by spreading along the shore, they would 
have a better chance of finding subsistence. They tried 
to raise crops, but the natives destroyed them, so they 
lingered on, living mainly on shell-fish. San Felipe 
was. full of dead bodies, which the living were too weak 
to bury. Unable to remain there, the survivors were 
on their way to Nombre de Jesus, when Cavendish fell 
in with them. He afterwards landed at San Felipe, to 
which he gave the name of Port Famine. After filling 
up with fresh water, and supplying himself with fuel by 
pulling down the houses in the town, he proceeded on his 
voyage. He had also salted down an enormous number 
of penguins. On the J4th of January the fleet rounded 
the most southern point of the American continent, to 
which Cavendish gave the name of Cape Fro ward, and 
next day he anchored in a cove five leagues to the west- 
ward, on the south side of the strait, where great 
abundance of shell-fish was found. On the 24th of 
February he entered the South Sea with a fair wind, 
having been seven weeks in the strait. 

Hernandez, the survivor of Sarmiento's colony, 
escaped from the English when they landed to fill their 
water-casks in the Bay of Quintero, near Valparaiso. 
Cavendish completed the third navigation of the globe, 
arriving at Plymouth on the 9th of September 1588. 



112 LIFi3 OF JOHN DAVIS. [15 19. 

His cruel abandonment of the surviving colonists in 
Magellan's Strait left a stain on his character which was 
deepened by his ruthless cruelty at every place he 
visited along the west coast of America. In his first 
voyage he showed that he was callous to the sufferings 
of others ; in his second he proved that his inhumanity 
was not redeemed either by generosity in judging of his 
owm comrades or by fortitude under misfortunes. His 
success was due to good fortune and to the excellent 
qualities of those who served with him. 

This unmerited success, so far as Cavendish was 
individually concerned, acted as a strong incentive to 
other adventurers. In the year following his return, 
Mr. John Chudleigh, of Broad Clyst, near Exeter, 
undertook a similar voyage. This Devonshire worthy 
was, says Prince, "a right martial, bold, and adven- 
turous spirit. He had an honourable emulation in him 
to equal, if not excel, the bravest heroes and their noblest 
exploits, not at land so much, where is the least danger, 
but at sea. The famous actions of Drake and Cavendish 
ran so much in his thoughts, that he could not rest 
without undertaking to show himself the third English- 
man that had encompassed the world and done noble 
service for his country." Chudleigh was an old and 
dear friend of John Davis, who named the cape at the 
southern entrance of Hudson Strait in his honour. 

Chudleigh was on board the Wild Mem of 300 tons, 
with Ben jamin Wood as master; the White Lion, of 340 
tons, was commanded by Paul Wheele, and the Delight of 
Bristol by Andrew Merrick. The account of the voyage 
was written by William Magoths of Bristol, who was 
on board the Delight. The three ships sailed from 
Plymouth on the 5th of August 1589, with the intention 



1 59 1.] PREPAKATIONS FOR THE SOUTH. 113 

of passing through the Strait of Magellan and entering 
the South Sea. The Deliglit parted company off the 
coast of Barbary, and never fell in with her consorts 
again. She anchored at Port Desire, and during her 
stay Merrick succeeded in finding two little springs of 
fresh water on the north-west side of the bay. Merrick 
and his companions entered the Strait of Magellan on 
the ist of January 1590, and anchored off an island 
covered with penguins. They killed and salted a great 
number, but Magoths warns his successors that " they 
must be eaten with speed, for we found them of no long 
continuance." Near Port Famine they took a Spaniard 
on board, who was the sole survivor of those unfortunate 
settlers who had been so inhumanly abandoned to their 
fate by Cavendish. When she got a few leagues beyond 
Cape Froward, the Delight was stopped by a head wind. 
For several weeks the explorers persevered in their 
attempt to reach the South Sea, but after losing their 
boats, anchors, and a number of their comrades, they 
became disheartened. On February 14th they again 
passed Cape Virgins and shaped a course homewards. 
Merrick and the Spaniard died on the passage home, 
and the ship was wrecked off Cherbourg. There is no 
narrative of the voyage of the Wild Man, but we know 
that Chudleigh died in Magellan's Strait, and that his 
ship returned in safety. Prince says that ''he did not 
live long enough to accomplish his generous designs, 
dying young, although he lived long enough to exhaust 
a vast estate." 

The records of these voyages to the Strait, from 
Magellan to Chudleigh, embracing a stirring period of 
seventy years, formed the material which John Davis 
and his friends had to consider in planning a new 

H 



114 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1519-91. 

expedition of discovery. The ulterior aim of Davis was 
always the achievement of the northern passage. The 
friends in council had before them the details of 
Magellan's voyage from the published work of Pigafetta 
and the letter of Maximilian Transylvanus. Both had 
been translated by Kiehard Eden in his " History of 
Travayle," a second edition of which was published by 
Willes in 1577. The manuscript of Lopez Vaz and 
the information from Sarmiento made them acquainted 
with subsequent Spanish enterprises, and they were of 
course fully informed respecting the voyages of their 
own countrymen. Sir Walter Raleigh encouraged the 
enterprise, Adrian Gilbert became the joint-owner of a 
ship with his old friend, and, the question having been 
fully considered, Davis resolved to make his next 
attempt to discover the passage by way of Magellan's 
Strait and the west coast of North America. \ The news 
of the melancholy fate of John Chudleigh had arrived 
in England during the autumn of 1590, but it only 
stimulated his friends to fresh exertions. Thomas 
Cavendish, unable to rest on his laurels, was eagerly 
organising a second expedition, and, in an evil hour, 
Davis consented to unite forces. Their fleet of four 
ships and a pinnace was ready for sea by the summer 
of 1 591. 



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CHAPTER YII. 

^HE VOYAGE TO THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN. 

The disastrous voyage of John Davis to the Straits of 
Magellan was commenced with bright hopes of achiev- 
ing important discovery. It was only in the expecta- 
tion of solving the question of the North- West Passage 
that Davis was induced " to go with Cavendish in his 
attempt for the South Sea," as he told his old Admiral, 
Lord Howard of Effingham, in his preface to the 
" Seaman's Secrets." Cavendish owned the Desire, the 
ship in which he had sailed round the world. His 
expedition consisted of this vessel, the Leicester and 
Moebtick, probably furnished by adventurers, the Dainty, 
owned partly by Adrian Gilbert and partly by Davis, 
and a small craft called the Black Pinnace. 

Davis contributed a large sum to the expenses of the 
voyage, and, at the pressing request of Cavendish, he 
consented to command the Desire instead of the Dainty. 
He did this in opposition to the advice of his friends, 
who disliked his leaving his own ship, and commanding 
a set of offi.cers and men selected by Cavendish, and 
previously unknown to him. His compliance was due 
to a feeling of loyalty to his chief, and to a wish to 
promote harmony and good-will, which is most honour- 
able to his memory. But he only consented on the 

115 



116 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1591. 

express condition that, when they arrived at California, 
he was to have his own ship the Dainty, and the Black 
Pinnace, and to part company with Cavendish in order 
" to search that north-west discovery upon the back 
parts of America." The object of Cavendish was merely 
to repeat his former exploit and enrich himself with 
Spanish prizes. 

Thomas Cavendish embarked on board the Leicester 
as general of the expedition, having with him a cousin 
named Locke, and several other gentlemen volunteers, 
including Robert Hues, the learned geographer. His 
chief supporters were his friend Sir Tristram Gorges, 
Sir George Gary, who provided some of the ordnance, 
and Master Gary of Cockington. John Davis was 
captain of the Desire, 120 tons, with John Pery, an 
experienced sailor and a loyal man, who had sailed with 
Cavendish in his former voyage, as master. Davis was 
also accompanied by his constant friend John Janes, 
his old shipmate in the Arctic regions, who joined the 
perilous undertaking for the sake of his former com- 
mander, and out of the affection he felt for him. He 
proved a stay and support during a very trying period. 
For the crew was most unsatisfactory, having been 
appointed by Cavendish. Nearly all were volunteers, 
artificers, or servants, and there were only fourteen able 
seamen. The whole company amounted to seventy-six 
souls. The ship was also badly furnished with rigging, 
sails, and cables. The Roehuck was commanded by 
Captain Cocke, the Dainty by Captain Randolph Cotton, 
a friend of Davis and of Adrian Gilbert, and the Black 
Pinnace by Captain Tobias. 

The summer of 159 1 saw Davis in the society of his 
wife at Sandridge for the last time. All seemed bright 



1593'] VOYAGE TO THE STKAITS OF MAGELLAN. 117 

and cheerful in that lovely home, and he left it with 
high hopes of achieving a great discovery and of a happy 
return. Yet already there were germs of calamity both 
in the expedition and in the bosom of his family. When 
he returned, he was a ruined and disappointed man, and 
he found his home desolate. But there was no thought 
of disaster when, on a bright August morning, he bade 
farewell to Sandridge and joined his ship. 

The second expedition commanded by Thomas Caven- 
dish sailed from Plymouth on the 26th of August 1591. 
A long and tedious voyage was before them. On the 
twentieth day the Canary Isles were sighted, and they 
were becalmed on the line for twenty-seven days, where 
the intense heat, combined with unwholesome food and 
water, caused an outbreak of scurvy. At length a 
north-westerly wind sprung up, and in three weeks 
more the coast of Brazil was sighted. Davis was un- 
certain of his position, but a small vessel was captured 
under the land, and the pilot pointed out Cape Frio, 
and took the ships into a place called Placencia, about 
sixty miles from the town of Santos. Here a welcome 
supply of fresh vegetables was obtained, which seems to 
have had the effect of restoring the men to health and 
vigour. But far more trying times were in store for 
them. It was resolved to attack the Portuguese town 
of Santos, in the hope of filling up with fresh provisions. 
The service was carelessly performed by Captain Cocke 
of the Roebuck. He took the boats up the river, sur- 
prised the settlers while they were hearing mass, and 
captured the town. But he afterwards allowed the 
people to pass to and fro as they pleased, and in a few 
days the place was left without inhabitants or provi- 
sions. It ended by the expedition only getting a few 



118 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1591. 

baskets of cassava meal, and by its having to leave the 
coast in great distress for want of fresh food. 

Cavendish had few of the requisites for an efficient 
commander. He was personally brave, but without 
feeling or sympathy for his men, and his plans were 
wanting in judgment and forethought. He never gave 
directions to his captains with regard to the course they 
were to steer in the event of being separated, and he 
appears to have neglected the precautions which were 
usually taken by an officer leading a squadron of ships. 
Leaving Santos on the 22nd of January 1592, the fleet 
encountered a severe gale of wind on the 7th of February, 
probably a "pampero," off the River Plate, and on the 
8th the ships were separated by the fury of the storm. 
Being without instructions, Davis consulted Mr. Pery, 
his master, as to the best course to take. He had 
frequently applied to Cavendish for a rendezvous in the 
event of parting company, but without being able to 
induce that commander to name one. During hia 
former voyage Cavendish had anchored in a bay on the 
coast of Patagonia which he named Port Desire, and 
it was thought probable that he would now shape a 
course for this refuge. Captain Davis, therefore, 
resolved to go there on the chance of finding the 
Leicester, and on his way he fell in with the Roebuck, 
seriously shattered and disabled. The two vessels 
reached Port Desire on the 6th of March, and the 
Black Pinnace joined them two days afterwards. 

But the crew of the Dainty had shamefully deserted. 
They steered homewards soon after the fleet left Santos, 
leaving their captain, who appears to have been dining 
on board the Moehuck, with nothing but the clothes on 
his back. Captain Randolph Cotton was an intimate 



1 593-] VOYAGE TO THE STKAITS OF MAGELLAN. 119 

friend of Davis, and he was a guest on board the Desire 
during the rest of the voyage. There is some reason to 
believe that Cavendish was a party to this treachery. 
One of his crew, named Knivet, says that the general 
told the men of the Dainty that he wanted them to go 
into the River Plate, but that afterwards " they might 
return home with all his heart." Cavendish knew well 
that this desertion would be the death-blow to Davis's 
hopes of achieving discovery. It was indeed a great 
calamity, for the Dainty was the ship in which the great 
Arctic Navigator had intended to continue his northern 
exploration. 

The surmise of Davis and his master proved to be 
correct. The Leicester arrived at Port Desire on the 
1 8th, having lost two of her boats during the gale, and 
Cavendish came on board the Desire in a very bad 
temper, and related his grievances to Davis. He com- 
plained bitterly of the crew of the Leicester. He de- 
clared that he was "matched with the most abject- 
minded and mutinous company that ever was carried out 
of England by man living, who never ceased to practise 
and mutiny against him." His accusations appear to 
have been unfounded, for when Mr. Janes and other 
officers of the Desire, who regretted to hear their friends 
thus spoken of, had an opportunity of conversing with 
the Leicester's officers, they were perfectly loyal in their 
remarks, and resolute in proceeding on the voyage. 
The conduct of Cavendish was deplored by his officers 
and men. But he persisted in it, and took the extra- 
ordinary course of refusing to return to his ship, 
declaring that he intended to remain on board the 
Desire as the guest of Captain Davis. 

So, with these seeds of failure on board, and with the 



120 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1591. 

prospect of foul weather ahead, the three ships and the 
little pinnace sought refuge and rest in this wild Pata- 
gonian port. It was dreary enough. In the middle of 
the bay the coast consists of steep white cliffs nearly 
two miles long, the upper part streaked with black 
lines from water draining down it. On the south side 
the Tower Rock breaks the monotonous outline of the 
land. It is a mass of red claystone forty feet high, 
cleft in the upper part, so as to give it the appearance 
of the forked branch of an immense tree, covered with 
moss and lichens. Undulating plains extend inland, 
where the gravelly soil is so poor as only to produce a 
few tufts of grass, with here and there a straggling 
bush. In one direction an inlet runs some fifteen miles 
up the country, on the banks of which a few plover and 
waterfowl are met with, but fresh water is only found 
in pools, and the supply is precarious. In examining 
the country more closely, the sailors found some slight 
refreshment. In the valleys, between the rocks, there 
were wild pease, with green leaves and bluish blossoms, 
and herbs like sage, with very sweet- smelling leaves. 
The herbs and leaves of the pease made wholesome 
salads against scurvy, and abundance of very good 
mussels and limpets was found on the rocks. Nine 
miles S.S.E. of the harbour was Penguin Island, which 
was covered with seals and sea-lions. 

Having obtained such refreshment as the place 
afforded, the expedition sailed for the Straits of Magellan 
on the 20th of March, Cavendish still remaining on 
board the Desire with Captain Davis. After encoun- 
tering very severe weather, the famous Cape of Virgins 
was sighted on the 8th of April. This eastern end of 
the Straits is bare and without trees, presenting little 



1593] VOYAGE TO THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN. 121 

to interest the voyager ; but as he makes progress to the 
westward the scene entirely alters. Cape Virgins is 
a precipitous line of cliffs of a whitish colour. After 
passing it, the ships had to sail across what Sir John 
Narborough afterwards called "a little sea," for about 
sixty miles to the first Narrow, named by Sarmiento 
**La Angostura de la Esperanza." On the i6th the 
second Narrow was passed, called *' La Angostura de 
San Simon," the distance between the two being ten 
leagues, according to Davis. Here gieat masses of sea- 
weed are seen drifting with the tide, which are rooted 
on the rocks, and rise to the surface even at consider- 
able depths, yet trailing for about fifty feet on the water. 
This weed shows the set of the tide or current, and 
indicates the positions of all the rocks, thus acting the 
part of a buoy or lightship in those wild and distant 
waters. Passing through both the Narrows with a fair 
wind, Davis entered the long reach, running nearly north 
and south for over a hundred miles, where the character 
of the scenery entirely changes. Thickly wooded hills 
rise from the shore to a height of a thousand feet, and 
at Port Famine, near the southern end of the reach, 
there are many fine tre«s along the banks of the river, 
which was named San Juan by Sarmiento. The prin- 
cipal trees are the Winter's bark and an evergreen beech, 
the latter growing to a great size. Byron mentioned 
one which was eight feet in diameter. These trees are 
thickly covered with moss and dripping with moisture, 
and there is dense undergrowth consisting of arbutus, 
berberis, and a thorny ribes. On the south side of the 
strait there are lofty mountains, and one peak, 6800 
feet high, rises above the rest, its snowy mantle con- 
trasting with the dark threatening clouds. Sarmiento 



122 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1591. 

described it as the snowy volcano, and FitzRoy has 
very appropriately given it the name of Mount Sar- 
miento. It is probably the " Campana de Eoldan " of 
Magellan. 

After a short stay at Port Famine, Davis continued 
his course to Cape Fro ward, the southern extreme of the 
American continent, in 53° 53' 43" S. Just before 
reaching it he came to the port of San Antonio, and 
was able to gaze upon tlie magnificent scenery which 
has been so well described by FitzE-oy. Here the vege- 
tation is very luxurious. An undergrowth of holly- 
leaved berberis, fuchsia, and veronica is sheltered by the 
spreading foliage of evergreen beech and Winter's bark 
trees. A small paraquet, which lives on the seeds of the 
Winter's bark, is often seen, and, what is still more 
wonderful, a hnmming-bird flutters among the fuchsias, 
even when snow is fallings While the lower hills are 
clothed with trees quite down to the water's edge, the 
sharp peaks and ridges, which form the background, are 
covered with eternal snow. 

Soon after leaving Port San Antonio, the forbidding 
mass of the Morro de Santa Agueda, which had been 
re-named by Cavendish in his former voyage Cape 
Froward, loomed ahead. It is a bold promontory of 
dark-coloured slaty rock, with the outer face nearly 
perpendicular, and higher land at the back. At Cape 
Froward the course of the fleet was rudely checked. 
The ships doubled it on the i8th of April, and were 
immediately encountered by a wintry gale in their teeth, 
blowing down the straits from the north-west. Fortu- 
nately Captain Tobias, in the pinnace, discovered a safe 
anchorage on the south side, twelve miles from the cape, 
where the ships took refuge. It was named Tobias Bay, 



I593-] VOYAGE TO THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN. 125 

and is probably the Mazaredo Bay of later charts. There 
were continuous gales of wind and snow storms, and 
Cavendish remained at anchor for more than a month. 
The men suffered from cold and exposure, and they had 
to live on mussels and limpets, eked out by a small 
allowance of meal from the ships' store. Anthony Knivet, 
one of the crew of the Leicester, gave a marvellous 
account of the effects of the cold, which must be received 
with a grain of salt. He says that, coming on board 
with wet feet and pulling off his stockings, the toes 
came with them, and that a shipmate named Harris lost 
his nose, " for going to blow it with his fingers, he cast 
it into the fire." 

Cavendish consulted Davis respecting the possibility 
of continuing the voyage into the South Sea in such 
weather. The experienced Arctic navigator assured him 
that the snow would not continue, and urged him to 
persevere. But he had lost heart, and seems to have 
cooled in his friendship for Davis when he found that a 
retreat would not receive his concurrence ; for he left 
the Desire and returned to his own ship. He then pro- 
posed to go back into the Atlantic and attempt a voyage 
round the Cape of Good Hope. Protests were made 
against this plan, and Cavendish was obliged to abandon 
it. He finally resolved to make for the Brazilian coast 
to obtain supplies, and then to return to the Straits of 
Magellan. ' 

On the 15th of May the fleet set sail from Tobias 
Bay, and rounding Cape Froward, remained for two 
days at Port Famine. Here Cavendish was again guilty 
of that selfish inhumanity which, in his former voyage, 
had led him to abandon the unfortunate Spaniards to 
their fate. But in this case his conduct was worse. 



I2I LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1591. 

He actually landed all the sick of the Leicester, left them 
exposed to damp, cold, and starvation, and allowed them 
to perish miserably. 

On the 1 8th the ships passed Cape Virgins, and were 
once more in the Atlantic, clear of the straits. In the 
evening of the 20th, the ship of Cavendish was close- 
hauled with the wind N.N.E., and the other ships shaped 
the same course; but next morning the Leicester and 
Roebuck were out of sight. Davis naturally supposed 
that they had borne up for Port Desire to repair some 
damage or to get refreshments. Next day the Desire 
fell in with the Black Pinnace, and they both anchored 
at Port Desire on the 26th. 

Cavendish must have altered his course during the 
night without making any signal, and he had given no 
lendezvous. The Leicester proceeded to the coast of 
Brazil, where Cavendish repeated his abominable cruelty 
of putting all his sick on shore, on a hot beach under a 
blazing sun, where he left them to perish. He then 
made sail for England, and died on the passage home. 
He left a will, with a covering letter to Sir Tristram 
Gorges, in which he falsely accused Davis of having 
intentionally deserted him . Davis acted loyally through- 
out, and did all in his power to rejoin his chief. He 
supposed that he would make for Port Desire, and 
afterwards that he would leturn to the straits, in ac- 
cordance with his avowed intentioH. Burney, in his 
"History of Voyages to the South Sea," remarks that, 
even if the separation had been intentional, the case 
would have been very different from any other. He 
says, " Instances without number are to be met with of 
ships deserting their commander-in-chief to escape the 
perils of a long and dangerous undertaking; but the 



IS93-] VOYAGE TO THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN. 125 

case of Captain Davis is of a different character. It is 
one of the few in which the separation, if contrived, was 
for the purpose of persevering in a pursuit after it had 
been abandoned by the chief commander as hopeless 
and impracticable." 

Davis found himself at Port Desire in want of almost 
everything. He had lost boat and oars in the straits, 
his single set of sails was nearly worn out, and his 
rigging and cables were chafed and old. Having moored 
his ship, he landed on the south side of the harbour, 
near the Tower Rock, and discovered a standing pool of 
fresh water. At low tides his men collected mussels in 
great quantities, and there was an abundant supply of 
fish, which were caught with bent pins for hooks. Thus 
the crew lived on fresh food, and the ship's provisions 
"were saved during the stay at Port Desire. 

After consulting with the master, Captain Davis deter- 
mined to send the pinnace in search of Cavendish ; but 
there were two mutinous scoundiels on board the Desire 
named Charles Parker and Edward Smith, who persuaded 
the crew that their captain intended to abandon them, 
and went 'so far as to plot the murder of Davis and his 
friends. The conspiracy was betrayed by the boatswain, 
and the villainy of the two mutineers was disclosed. 
Davis always relied on conciliation and the power of 
reasonable exhortation, rather than on the violent 
measures which were usually adopted to quell disaffec- 
tion. He forgave the treachery of Parker and Smith, 
abandoned his intention of sending away the pinnace, 
and made a speech to the men in which he fully ex- 
plained the situation. But he required all those who 
had been insubordinate or discontented to put their 
hands to a document setting forth the reasons of their 



126 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1591. 

separation from Cavendish, which he also signed, as 
well as Captain Randolph Cotton and Mr. Pery, the 
master. The document, which is dated June 2, 1592, 
has forty signatures, including those of the mutineers 
Parker and Smith. After recapitulating the events 
of the voyage, it explains the cause of separation, 
declares that it was unintentional, and sets forth the 
straits to which the crew of the Desire is reduced from 
the condition of spars and rigging and the insufficiency 
of stores and provisions. 

Having calmed the excitement and satisfied the crew, 
at least for the time, by the conciliatory course he 
adopted, Davis set to work with his accustomed energy 
and skill to repair defects. IJe set up a smith's forge 
on shore, prepared charcoal, and made bolts, nails, and 
spikes. Fresh rigging was laid up by using one of the 
cables, and the fore-shrouds, which had been carried 
away in a heavy gale, were spliced. While part of the 
crew were at work on these repairs, the rest were em- 
ployed to fish and collect mussels and limpets on the 
rocks. The pinnace went to and fro to Penguin Island, 
and a sharp look-out was kept for the Leicester. Thus 
the time passed until August, when Davis came to the 
conclusion that Cavendish must have returned direct 
to the straits from the Brazilian coast without touching 
at Port Desire. He, thei'efore, proposed to return to 
the straits, in the hope of at length finding the missing 
vessels — a course to which the crew readily agreed. 

After salting down twenty hogsheads of seal-flesh at 
Penguin Island, the Desire made sail on the 6th of 
August, " the poorest wretches that ever were created," 
says Mr. Janes. They had been two months and ten 
days in Port Desire. 



1593] VOYAGE TO THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN. 127 

In a storm which was encountered on the 9th, Davis 
was obliged to lie-to, for his sails were so worn that he 
did not dare to expose them to the probable chance of 
being split by the force of the wind. On the 14 th he 
was " driven in among certain islands, never before dis- 
covered by any known relation, Ij'ing 50° or better from 
the shore east and northeily of the straits." Thus 
was Davis the discoverer of the group which has since 
improperly been called the " Malouines " and the 
"Falkland Islands," in 51° to 53° >S. latitude. Burney 
attempted to do justice to the memory of Davis by 
adopting the name of " Davis's Southern Islands," but 
he was not successful. Davis saw a succession of barren 
hills sloping towaixis low and broken ground and rocky 
surf -beaten shores, with quantities of drifting kelp on 
the surface of the sea, and great numbers of birds. Of 
this group Davis was undoubtedly the discoverer. On 
two Spanish charts dated 1527 and 1529, there are 
islands shown near the same position, and called " Ascen- 
sion Islands," and they also appear on the map of 
Plancius. But there is no reason to doubt that we 
have the narratives of all the explorers who had been so 
far south up to 1592, and none of them mention any 
such discovery. The insertion of these "Ascension 
Islands" must, therefore, be referred to the error or 
imagination of some map-maker. The claim set up for 
Amerigo Vespuccius, who is said to have made a voyage 
into the South Atlantic in 1502, is equally baseless, for, 
by his own account, he never went south of the Hirer 
Plate. In 1594 Richard Hawkins sailed along the 
northern shores of the group, and being ignorant of 
the discovery of Davis, he named it " Hawkins's Maiden 
Land," and in 1600 the north-western extreme was 



128 



LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. 



[1591. 



sighted by the Dutch navigator Sebald de Weert, and 
named the "Sebaldines." In 1690 Strong landed, and 
gave the name of Falkland 
Channel to the strait between 
the east and west islands, and 
this name got transferred from 
the strait to the islands them- 
selves. Davis was thus de- 
prived of the honour which was 
his due, of having his name at- 
tached to his discovery. 

The wind shifted to the east 
when the Desire was off the 
newly discovered islands, and 
on the 1 8th she sighted Cape 
Virgins, passing through the 
two narrows on the following 
day, and doubling Cape Fro- 
ward on the 2 ist. The voyage 
through the straits had so far 
been prosperous. Davis an- 
chored in a port on the south 
side of the Long Reach, pro- 
bably the Abra of Sarmiento, 
where he fell in with a num- 
ber of the wretched natives of 
Tierra del Fuego, and on the 
24th he entered the *'Sea 
Reach" which opens on the 
Pacific, anchoring within four- 
teen leagues of the western entrance of the straits. 
He was apparently in the " Puerto de Churruca " of later 
charts, and here he proposed to wait for Cavendish. He 







i\ 


1 


1 






\ 


lll 


11 


■ ' 




hI 




m i 




■ ■■ 


i 


- .■! 





1593] VOYAGE TO THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN. 129 

remained for a fortnight, but the sufferings of the 
men from the intense cold and want of food were 
terrible. They were insufficiently clad, and the seal- 
flesh having been badly cured, became uneatable. The 
master, who had become acquainted with the Chilian 
coast in the first voyage of Cavendish, advised that 
refuge should be taken at the island of Santa Maria 
near Concepcion, where the climate is temperate, and 
where fresh pi-ovisions could be obtained. He repre- 
sented that Santa Maria would be equally well placed as 
a station for awaiting the arrival of Cavendish, as he 
would be sure to touch there. Davis adopted this 
advice, and entered the Pacific on the 13th of September, 
but was diiven back by a westerly gale on the following 
day, taking refuge in the harbour of God's Mercy, tbe 
" Misericordia " of Sarmiento, which is a few miles 
inside Cape Pillar. Another attempt was made a day 
or two afterwards ; but again the Desire was driven back 
by a furious gale, and when they anchored in the Bay 
of Mercy one of the cables parted. As soon as the wind 
went down, Davis moored his ship to the trees, unrove 
his running rigging, and tried unsuccessfully to recover 
his anchor. He now only had one anchor with a broken 
fluke, a cable spliced in two places, and the remains of 
another old cable. 

On the ist of October the wind came fair. The ship 
was expeditiously rigged and got under weigh, and for 
the third time a course was shaped for the South Sea. 
But a mutinous spirit again began to appear among the 
crew, some wanting to return to Port Desire, while 
others sided with the officers in their wish to reach the 
coast of Chile. Davis, therefore, delivered the following 
speech to the master, to be repeated to the crew : — 



130 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1591. 

" Master ! you see the wonderful extremity of our 
estate, and the great doubts among our company of your 
reports as touching reliefe to be had in the South Sea. 
Some say in secret, as I am informed, that we under- 
take these desperate attempts through blind affection 
that we bear to the General. For mine own part, I 
plainly make known unto you that the love which I 
bear to the General caused me first to enter into this 
action, whereby I have not only heaped upon my head 
the bitter calamity now present, but also have in some 
sort procured the dislike of my best friends in England, 
as is not unknown to some in this company. Now 
being thus entangled by the providence of God, for my 
former offences (no doubt), I desire that it may please 
his Divine Majestie to show us such merciful favour 
that we may rather proceed than otherwise, or, if it be 
His will that our mortal being shall now take an end, I 
desire that it may rather be in proceeding than in re- 
turning. And because I see in reason that the limits of 
our time are now drawing to an end, I do in Christian 
charity entreat you, first, to forgive me in whatsoever I 
have been grievous unto you ; secondly, that you will 
rather pray for our General than use hard speeches of 
him; and let us be fully persuaded that not for his 
cause and negligence, but for our own offences against 
the Divine Majesty, we are presently punished. Lastly, 
let us forgive one another, and be reconciled as children 
in love and charity, and not think upon the vanities 
of life ; so shall we, in leaving this life, live with our 
glorious Redeemer, or, abiding in this life, find favour 
with God. And now, good master, forasmuch as you 
have been in this voyage once before with your master 
the General, satisfy the company of such truths as are to 



1S93-] VOYAGE TO THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN. 131 

you best known ; and you and the rest of the General's 
men, which likewise have been with him in his first 
voyage, if you hear anything contrary to the truth, 
spare not to reprove it, I pray you. And so I beseech 
the Lord to bestow His inercy upon us." 

The master, in reply, protested that the separation 
from Cavendish had been a source of anguish and 
sorrow to him, and again advised that a course should 
be shaped to the island of Santa Maria on the Chilian 
coast, where pork, corn, and roots could be obtained in 
abundance. He declared that if they returned, there 
was nothing but death to be hoped for. 

On hearing these speeches, the crew unanimously 
agreed to continue the voyage, and by the 2nd of 
October the Desire was in the Pacific Ocean, and clear 
of the Stiaits. But that night the wind sprung up 
from the W.N.W., and soon increased to a gale. The 
Desire stood on under courses, while the fury of the 
storm increased and tremendous seas broke over her. 
On the 3rd the little Black Pinnace came under her 
consort's lee, and her captain hailed that she had taken 
in many grievous seas, and that he could not tell what 
shift to make. It was quite impossible to give her any 
assistance, and next day she suddenly broached to and 
went down with all hands. On the 5th the foresail of 
the Desire was split, and the fury of the gale continued 
with hai] and snow, the seas breaking over her, so that 
it was doubtful every moment whether she might not 
share the fate of the pinnace. 

On the loth of October the weather was dark and 
stormy, and the reckoning made the ship very close to 
Cape Pillar — a dead lee-shore. The men were so tired 
that they could work no longer, and had thrown them- 



132 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1591. 

selves down in despair. All hope seemed gone. Captain 
Davis had yielded to despondency, and was sitting in 
the stern-gallery immersed in his own melancholy 
thoughts. He was so cold as scarcely to be able to 
move a joint. At this juncture his old and tried friend, 
Mr. Janes, brought him some " Rosa soUs," or, in plain 
English, a good stiff glass of hot grog. After he had 
drunk it, the weather-beaten navigator was comforted, 
and offered up a prayer that their days might either be 
speedily ended, or that they might be shown some 
merciful sign of the divine love. Suddenly, even before 
Mr. Janes had left him, the sun broke out from amongst 
the threatening clouds, so that both Davis and the 
master were able to get meridian altitudes and shape a 
course for the straits. This so revived their spirits that 
they made cheery speeches to the men, and every one 
felt that the danger was passed. Next day they sighted 
the famous headland which forms the southern portal 
of the western entrance to the straits. The master was 
very doubtful whether the ship could weather Cape 
Pillar, but Davis said, "You see there is no remedy; 
either we must double it, or before noon we must die ; 
therefore loose your sails and let us put it to God's Mercy." 
So sail was made, and the DesirSj close-hauled, made 
for the terrible cape, with seas breaking over her 
furiously. Hope and anxiety gradually gave way to 
despair as it was seen that she continued to sag to 
leeward more and more, and it seemed as if she could 
not possibly weather the cape. The ship was now 
within half a mile of the point, and so near the land 
that the counter-surf rebounded against the ship's side. 
They seemed to be at the very point of death, " the 
wind and sea raging beyond measure," and the relent- 



1593] VOYAGE TO THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN. 133 

less cape frowning above them. At this critical moment 
the master eased off the main-sheet. He judged that 
it was too flat aft, and that the ship, instead of going 
through the water, was rapidly bagging to leeward. 
The sheet being eased, she gathered way and weathered 
the danger. They had escaped literally by a hair's- 
breath. Then, with no sail set, she flew before the 
gale, and in six hours was twenty-five leagues within 




BCENE IN MAGELLAN STRAITS— MOUNT SARMIENTO. 

the strait. She was brought into a cove and moored to 
the trees, that the exhausted men might get a little rest. 
During his long sojourns in the Straits of Magellan, 
Captain Davis had surveyed the coast-lines and many 
of the harbours with great care, and had prepared an 
elaborate chart ; so that he was enabled to pilot his 
ships through the numerous dangers with a sure and 
well-instructed eye, "even in the hell-darke night." 
Mr. Janes was struck with admiration at the diligence 
of Davis and his master in this respect. " I conclude," 



134 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1591. 

he wrote, " the world hath not aay so skilful pilots for 
that place as they are, for otherwise we could never 
have passed in such sort as we did." 

Leaving their first refuge, they went through the 
strait as far as the island near the western entrance 
of the second Narrow, which used to be called Penguin 
and now Elizabeth Island. Here the Desire was 
anchored, and a boat was sent on shore to collect 
birds. Misfortune continued to attend on this ill-fated 
expedition. A sudden squall half -filled the boat, the 
birds had to be abandoned, and it was with great diffi- 
culty that Captain Randolph Cotton and Mr. Janes 
succeeded in getting back to the ship. On the 27th of 
October the Desire passed Cape Virgins, and on the 30th 
she reached the other Penguin Island, nine miles south 
of Port Desire. Here they had better luck. The boats 
were sent on shore, and returned laden with birds and 
eggs ; the penguins being so closely packed on the island 
that the men could not move without treading on them. 

After the mutiny at Port Desire, Captain Davis 
said to the culprits Parker and Smith that God would 
judge between him and them. The time had now come 
for retribution. They were ordered, with some others, 
to remain on Penguin Island and collect birds, a boat 
being sent for them as soon as the ship had anchored in 
Port Desire. But their guilty consciences led them to 
suspect that they were going to be abandoned, and 
they refused to obey the order. Davis then made the 
following speech to them, in presence of the rest of the 
crew : — " I understand that you are doubtful of your 
security, through the perverseness of your own guilty 
consciences. It is an extreme grief to me that you should 
judge me bloodthirsty, in whom you have seen nothing 



1S93-] VOYAGE TO THE STEAITS OF MAGELLAN. 135 

but kind conversation. If you have found otherwise, 
speak boldly and accuse me of the wrongs that I have 
done ; if not, why do you then measure me by your own 
uncharitable consciences? All the company knoweth, 
indeed, that in this place you practised to the utmost of 
your powers to murder me and the master causeless, as 
God knoweth, which evil in this place we did remit 
you ; and now may conceive, without doing you wrong, 
that you again purpose some evil in bringing these 
matters to repetition. But God hath so shortened your 
confederacy as that I nothing doubt you. It is for your 
master's sake that I have forborne you in your unchris- 
tian practices ; and here I protest, before God, that for 
His sake alone I will endure this injury, and you shall 
in no sort be prejudiced, nor in anything be by me 
commanded. When we come into England (if God so 
favours us) your master shall know your honesties. In 
the mean space be void of these suspicions ; for I call 
God to witness that revenge is no part of my thought." 

The Desire was moored in Port Desire on the last day 
of October, and on the 3rd of November the boat was 
sent to Penguin Island with as many men and as much 
wood and water as she would carry, to prepare penguins as 
provisions for the voyage. Parker and Smith preferred 
to go by land. They set out well armed with eight other 
men, but were never heard of again. Thus did God ap- 
pear to judge between the mutineers and their captain. 

Captain Davis, the master, and six men remained by 
the ship ; and the opportunity was taken of exploring 
the river or creek, and making a careful survey of the 
anchorage. A large body of Patagonians came upon 
them suddenly, and set fire to bushes to windward of 
the ship, but they fled as soon as a gun was fired, and 



136 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1591. 

did not appear again. The health of the men was pro- 
vided for by serving out fresh food in the shape of 
penguins, young seals, birds of several kinds, and eggs. 
The leaves of the herb resembling sage, which they 
called scurvy-grass, was fried with the eggs, and its 
effect appears to have been excellent in curing scurvy. 
The great difficulty was to secure a sufficient supply of 
salt to cure the birds. Captain Davis, with the help of 
the master and Mr. Janes, manufactured it by collecting 
salt water in shallow holes on the rocks above the reach 
of the tide. In six days it had evaporated, leaving salt 
in powder. Thus they were enabled to dry and salt 
14,000 penguins. 

On the 22nd of December the Desire weighed and com- 
menced her voyage home to England. Captain Davis cal- 
culated the quantity of provisions, and drew up a scale 
by which they would be made to last for six months. 
It consisted of five ounces of meal a week, five pen- 
guins for four men, and six quarts of water daily, and 
three spoonfuls of oil for each man three days in the 
week. In this miserable condition the voyage home 
commenced. Davis was sorely in need of patience and 
high courage, for all his hopes were shattered and de- 
stroyed. He had lost at least ;^i 100 in the venture, and 
returned a ruined and disappointed man. 

On the 30th of January 1593 the ship arrived at the 
island of Placencia, off the coast of Brazil. Landing with 
a boat's crew, Davis found the settlement abandoned, 
but he got a supply of fruits and roots in the deserted 
gardens, and was able to pilot his ship into a sheltered 
creek, where there was fresh water near the beach. 
They worked very hard in making hoops for casks, col- 
lecting roots and vegetables, and getting water on board. 



1593-] VOYAGE TO THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN. 137 

On the night of Monday the 5th of February, not 
only the captain, but several men had dreams which 
foreboded murder or worse calamities. The dream 
made so strong an impression on Davis that he gave 
strict orders for all the men to take their weapons with 
them when they landed next morning. Towards noon 
it became very hot, and the working party rested in 
their shirts, some bathing, and others lying in the 
shade. Suddenly a body of Portuguese and Indians 
surprised them, and killed all but two, who brought the 
news of this wretched massacre to the ship. Davis 
manned and armed his boat with all speed, but only 
found the dead bodies of his poor men, and saw two 
pinnaces pulling away towards Rio de Janeiro. Out of 
seventy-six souls who left England in the Desire, only 
twenty- seven now survived. The casks were still in a 
deplorable condition, and only eight tons of water could 
be taken on board. Yet there was danger of being 
attacked by an overwhelming force from Rio ; and on 
the whole, Davis decided that it would be better " to 
fall into the hands of the Lord, rather than into the 
hands of men." On the 6th of February the Desire once 
more put to sea, and off Cape Frio a plentiful fall of rain 
enabled the long-suffering crew to refill their water-casks. 

Now commenced a tale of horror such as is not sur- 
passed in the annals of the sea. The penguins turned 
out to have been insufficiently cured. A loathsome and 
hideous worm began to form in the corrupting flesh, and 
multiplied prodigiously. Then, after they had crossed 
the line, the scurvy broke out in a most malignant 
form. The burning sun poured its rays on the miser- 
able men like a helmet of burnished steel. Their bodies 
began to swell, and they could scarcely breathe. Davis 



138 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1591. 

exerted himself to the utmost. Though scarcely able to 
speak for sorrow, he exhorted the poor stricken creatures 
to have patience, and, like dutiful children, to accept the 
chastisements of God. Some went raving mad and died 
in frightful pain. The master fought it out bravely, 
and was just able to crawl about. Captain Cotton and 
Mr. Janes were in like case. Davis and a boy alone 
remained in perfect health. These five had to work the 
ship, for the eleven survivors of the crew were unable to 
move. The captain and master took turns at the helm, 
and managed to trim the spritsail with the help of the 
other three. The rest of the sails were all blown away. 
" Thus, as lost wanderers upon the sea, it pleased God 
that we arrived at Bere-haven in Ireland on the nth 
of June 1593, and there ran the ship on shore." Thence 
Davis proceeded in a fishing-boat to Padstow in Cornwall. 
John Davis returned to his home at Sandridge need- 
ing welcome and consolation as much as any man ever 
did in this world. He found it desolate. A scoundrel 
named Milburne had seduced his wife in his absence, 
and, not content with that, had devised accusations 
against the man he had injured in the hope of securing 
his imprisonment, and so preventing him from prosecut- 
ing any plan of vengeance against the destroyer of his 
peace. This was what Davis had to face after he landed 
on his native shore. For several months'he appears to 
have been dazed with the weight of his misfortunes. 
His friend Sir Walter Raleigh, in March 1594, wrote 
from Sherborne to warn him that a warrant was out 
against him, and to advise him to come up to London ; 
but he was intercepted by a pursuivant and brought 
up in custody. The nature of the accusation does not 
appear. It was investigated by the best gentlemen 



1593] VOYAGE TO THE STEAITS OF MAGELLAN. 139 

in Devon, and proved to be false. Moreover, the 
diligence, fidelity, and intelligence of Davis in the 
Queen's service were shown to be very great. He was 
set at liberty, sureties being taken for his appearance, 
within twenty days after warning given, at Mr. Black- 
aller's house in Dartmouth ; but it does not appear that 
he was ever molested again by the emissaries of the law. 
Milburne was a dissolute person, with nothing to lose, 
and Raleigh heard that he had coined money and was 
likely to be hanged at the assizes. It is to be hoped 
that this was the villain's end. 

The disastrous voyage to the Straits o^ Magellan 
brought out some of the best traits in the character of 
the great Arctic navigator. He showed himself to be 
as resolute and persevering as in the Northern voyages. 
He was loyal to his chief under very trying circum- 
stances. He missed no opportunity of surveying and 
collecting information that would be useful to future 
navigators. He was kind and considerate to his men, 
and took constant thought for their welfare ; and if he 
was too conciliatory to mutineers, and strove to restore 
subordination by gentle rather than by strong measures, 
the fault was on the right side. He, finally, met crushing 
misfortune with the calm fortitude of a hero. The faults 
as well as the fine points of the character of Davis were 
brought out in this terrible voyage, and tried as by fire. 

The narrative of the voyage of Davis to Magellan's 
Straits was written by his friend Mr. John Janes, and 
was published in Hakluyt's collection. Purchas gives 
a letter from Cavendish to Sir Tristram Gorges written 
shortly before his death, and the marvellous narrative of 
Anthony Knivet, one of the sick men who were so heart- 
lessly abandoned by Cavendish on the coast of Brazil. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

PROGRESS OF THE ART OF NAVIGATION. 

The failure of the expedition on which all the hopes of 
Davis had been set, and the heavy losses entailed on 
him, destroyed every chance of soon being able to renew 
an enterprise with similar objects. The money he had 
accumulated as the result of many years of work at sea 
was all lost. Yet he retained his patrimony at Sandridge, 
and thither he retired, with the intention of communi- 
cating to his countrymen the professional knowledge he 
had acquired, in the form which seemed most likely to- 
be useful to them. His wife would never more welcome 
his return. She had deserted her husband and children, 
and appears to have died soon afterwards. But in the 
home of his own childhood he was surrounded by his 
three little boys. His energy was not weakened, his 
enthusiasm was not damped, by his sorrows and misfor- 
tunes; and, though living in strict retirement during 
the next two years, he was neither idle nor despondent. 
Busily engaged on hydrographical work of various kinds, 
and watching with deep interest the progress of mari- 
time enterprise, his two published works were composed 
at Sandridge during the two years which followed his 
return from Magellan's Straits. 

The rise of England's maritime power during the 

140 



1480-1594] THE AET OF NAVIGATION. 141 

reign of the great Queen naturally led to the cultivation 
of those mathematical and astronomical studies which 
are a necessary part of a sailor's profession. Although 
John Davis was not a profound classical scholar, he was 
acquainted with the works of the ancients as well as 
with the more recent discoveries of mediseval and 
Spanish labourers in the same field. For the erudition 
of such men as Hues and Wright was open to their 
sailor-friends, and the practical navigator was able to 
appreciate the position of nautical science in his own 
day by comparing it with the ideas and practices of his 
predecessors. If we would understand the place which 
the " Seaman's Secrets " of Davis takes in the history of 
navigation, we must pass in review, with the same object 
as he would have had in examining former labours, the 
progressive work of those who had brought nautical 
astronomy to the point it had reached in the days of 
Elizabeth ; for the contemporaries of Davis still treated 
the work of the ancients with respect and discussed 
their methods, and the English had but recently begun 
to assume independence of foreign help, and to publish 
original treatises on navigation. 

All students of the sixteenth century, while welcom- 
ing the advances and improvements of later times, 
looked upon the philosophers whose labours and disco- 
veries are recorded in the "Almagest" and "Geography" 
of Ptolemy as the founders of nautical science. The 
lectures of Hood and the popular treatise of Hues 
instructed the Elizabethan seamen in the former 
history of their science, and the interest of young 
navigators was aroused by the stories of the earliest 
scientific discoveries, and by a review of subsequent 
progress. Aristarchus, Eratosthenes, and Hipparchus 



142 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1480. 

were names more familiar to the young seamen of the 
Elizabethan era than they are to us. Davis and his 
fellows knew how the famous librarian of Alexandria 
had calculated the obliquity of the ecliptic by means of 
the armillce, or great copper circles which were fixed in 
the square porch of the Alexandrian Museum. They 
were familiar with his method of determining the 
circumference of the earth; and his learning and 
ingenuity must have satisfied their reason, while it 
excited their imaginations. Eratosthenes had heard 
that deep wells at Syene were enlightened to the 
bottom on the day of the summer solstice, and he 
therefore knew that Syene must be on the tropic. He 
had ascertained the latitude of Alexandiia by observa- 
tion, and he assumed that the two places were on the same 
meridian. The arc thus measured enabled this original 
thinker to calculate the proportion it bore to the whole 
circumference of the earth, and his result was a fair 
approximation to the truth. This story of the methods 
by which the great Alexandrian made his discovery was 
a useful and suggestive lesson. The work of Hipparchus, 
though more complete and extensive, did not appeal so 
directly to the imagination. But the catalogue of stars 
and constellations, the system of mapping by degrees of 
latitude and longitude, the theory of the precession of 
the equinoxes, were all due to the genius of Hipparchus, 
though the thanks of posterity for their preservation 
belongs to Ptolemy. Hence the system of Ptolemy was 
the text-book of the Middle Ages, and the study of his 
great work, translated into Arabic under the name of 
the "Almagest," was the foundation of astronomical 
knowledge down almost to the time of Davis. It was 
to learned Arabs, well versed in the ** Almagest" of 



1594-] PEOGKESS OF THE ART OF NAVIGATION. 143 

Ptolemy, that King Alfonso the Wise committed the 
ta.sk of constructing the tables which bear his name; 
and the principa,! work of Purbach and Regiomontanus, 
the two most learned German astronomers of the 
fifteenth century, was their translation of Ptolemy. 
But Kegiomontanus was not merely a translator. He 
constructed valuable instruments, and was the first to 
publish an almanac with tables of the sun's declination 
calculated for the years from 1475 ^^ 1566. 

The adaptation of instruments and calculations in use 
at the observatories of astronomers on shore, to the 
requirements of seamen, was the most important work 
to be accomplished in those days, and the development 
of maritime enterprise in the fifteenth and sixteenth 
centuries made it a matter of urgency to utilise the 
discoveries of students. Progress was first made in 
this direction by Martin Behaim of Nuremburg, a 
pupil of Regiomontanus. He first combined the 
theoretical knowledge of a student with the practice 
of a navigator. He had burnt the midnight oil while 
poring over the pages of the "Almagest," and he had 
accompanied Diogo Cam when that explorer reached 
the mouth of the Congo in 1484.^ This combination of 
theoretical and practical knowledge was calculated to 
effect changes which its absence had long delayed. The 
astrolabe, which had been known for centuries as an 
astronomical instrument, was first applied by Martin 
Behaim for purposes of navigation.^ A graduated ring 
of metal, held so as to hang as a plummet, with a 
movable limb across it fitted with two perforated sights, 
enabled a sailor to observe the angle between the 

^ We learn this from an inscription on the globe of Behaim. 
2 Thid is statuJ by Barros (Dec. I. Lib. iv., cap. 2). 



144 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [148a 

horizon and the sun at noon. The sun's declination on 
each day was given in the almanac of Regiomontanus, 
and with these elements the latitude was found by a 
Very simple calculation. But it is probable that if 
Behaim had not himself made long voyages, his 
theoretical knowledge would never have led him to 
adapt the astrolabe for use at sea. Behaim also con- 
structed a globe which is still preserved at Nurem- 
burg, and which is the oldest now in existence.^ It was 
not long before another instrument of simpler con- 
struction, and better adapted for use at sea, was invented 
to observe the sun's altitude. This was the cross- staff, 

^ I am glad to be able to add the following note on the globe of 
Martin Behaim, which has been kindly furnished me by the 
distinguished geographer, Baron Nordeuskiold. "The globe of 
Behaim is, without comparison, the most important geographical 
document that api>eared between A.D. 150, the date of the com- 
position of Ptolemy's Atlas, and A.D. 1507, when Ruysch's Map of 
the "World was published. This globe is not only the oldest known 
to exist, but, from its size and its wealth of geographical detail, it 
far surpassed all analogous monuments de g^ographie, until the 
appearance of the globe of Mercator. It is the first geographical 
document which, without any reserve, adopts the existence of 
antipodes. It is the first which plainly shows the possibility of 
a passage by sea to India and Cathay. It is the first on which 
the discoveries of Marco Polo are clearly indicated. It is true that 
the Behairif globe may be said to have been preceded, in some 
respects, by some other earlier maps of the fifteenth century, for 
instance the map in a codex of Pomponius Mela of 1427 in the 
library of Rheims, and that of Fra Mauro. But if these are 
impartially studied, it will be found that they are based on the 
idea of Homer, that the earth is a large circular island encompassed 
by the ocean, a conception totally incompatible with the new 
geographical discoveries of the Spaniards. These and analogous 
maps are, therefore, not in the slightest degree comparable with 
the globe of Behaim ; which may be said to be an exact repre- 
sentation of the geographical knowledge of the period immediately 
preceding the first voyage of Columbus." 



1594.] PROGEESS OF THE ART OF NAVIGATION. 145 

which was first described in 15 14 by Werner of Nurem- 
burg in his notes on Ptolemy's " Geography." 

Longitude continued to be a difficulty, although 
Werner had proposed the method of observing the 
distance of the moon from the sun with simultaneous 
altitudes, afterwards known as a "lunar;" and Gemma 
Fiisius, the learned professor at Louvain, had an idea, 
which he published in 1530, that longitude might be 
found by comparison of times kept by small clocks. 

The first use of the mariner's compass at sea by 




CEOSS-STAFP. 

European seamen is doubtfully attributed to Flavio 
Gioja of Amalfi, who lived about the beginning of the 
fourteenth century ; and it was certainly in general use 
when Prince Henry of Portugal dispatched his expedi- 
tions of discovery a century later. The variation of the 
needle was first observed by Columbus on the 14th of 
September 1492 ; it attracted the close and constant ob- 
servation of Sebastian Cabot ; but later Spanish writers 
believed it to be due to inaccurate observation, and as late 
as 157 1 such a navigator as Sarmiento doubted its exist- 

K 



146 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1480. 

ence. It was not until the English seriously took up 
the study of navigation that advances were made in the 
science of terrestrial magnetism, or that any but the 
roughest guesses were used for estimating a ship's run. 

The use of the plane chart was a source of enormous 
error and proportional danger to the early mariners. 
By it the degrees of latitude and longitude were mado 
of equal length on a plane surface, so that the error 
increased with the distance from the equator. Careful 
navigatoi's, like Davis, preferi-ed the use of globes, which 
for a long time formed part of the furniture of a 
navigator. The discovery of a projection which obviated 
the disadvantages of the plane chart was an era in the 
progress of navigation. As it also supplies another 
remarkable example of the importance of combining 
practical experience with theoretical knowledge, it is 
deserving of more than passing notice, while the story 
of its discoverer is as instructive as it is interesting. 

At a distance of eight miles above the city of Ant- 
werp, at the point where the little Rupel forms a junc- 
tion with the Scheldt, there stands a small town called 
Rupelmonde. On a wintry evening of the year 15 12 a 
poor shoemaker, with his wife and six children, who had 
travelled all the way from Germany on foot, entered this 
Flemish town. The man, whose name was Hubert Cremer, 
was in sore need; but his uncle was a clergyman in Rupel- 
monde, and he looked to him for help. The old canon, 
Gisbert Cremer, received this forlorn party with kind- 
ness and hospitality, and on the 5th of March 15 12, a 
few days after their arrival, the wife gave birth to a 
boy, who received the name of Gerard, and was brought 
up by his great-uncle. It was the custom in those days, 
especially in Holland and Flanders, for clergymen and 



1594.] PKOGKESS OF THE AET OF NAVIGATION. 147 

other learned persons to adopt a Latin form of their 
name. "Cremer" and "Mercator" mean a trader or 
merchant in Flemish and Latin respectively, so the 
caoon had taken the name of Mercator, his adopted 
nephew also being known as Gerard Mercator. 

The uncle, Gisbert, was a poor man, but he contrived 
to send young Gerard to the great University of Lou- 
vain, where he was enrolled among what were called 
*' the indigent students." Gerard had a genius for 
mathematics, and after he had taken his degree he 
earned his livelihood by drawing and engraving maps, 
at the same time receiving lessons in nautical astronomy 
from the learned Gemma Frisius. Mercator published 
his first map in 1537, and his great terrestrial globe, 
two feet in diameter, appeared in 1541. Owing to the 
persecutions of the Inquisition, he removed to the small 
town of Duisburg on the Hhine, in the dominions of the 
Duke of Cleves, in 1552, and he made that place his 
home for the remaining forty-two years of his long life. 

It was in the year 1569 that Mercator completed and 
published his famous chart of the world on his new pro- 
jection. There is only one copy in existence, in the 
National Library at Paris — a sheet 6 feet 6 inches long 
and 4 feet 4 inches broad. It is beautifully engraved, and 
dedicated to Mercator's friend and patron, the Duke of 
Cleves. In the centre there is a long Latin inscription, 
"which is the only indication given by Mercator of the 
principle on which he constructed his chart. He there 
tells us that he had been led to give the degrees of lati- 
tude towards the two poles a slight increase beyond the 
proportion they present at the equator. The meridians 
are, as on the old plane charts, parallel to each other. 
The advantage of the new projection, as stated by Mer- 



148 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1480. 

cator, is that, although distances are distorted, the posi- 
tions of places relatively to each other are correct. But 
he nowhere describes in detail the principle on which the 
chart is constructed. It is, indeed, doubtful whether he 
had worked it out himself, for the chart is incorrectly 
drawn, only being approximately accurate up to 40°.^ 
Mercator deserves the great praise of having conceived 
the idea of a most useful projection, but it was not 
enough to do this without enabling others to construct 
it by a fixed rule. This is a striking example of the 
necessity for combining practical knowledge with theory 
— a combination which was wanting in the case of 
Mercator and his chart. The diagram opposite shows 
the idea which had occurred to the illustrious carto- 
grapher. 

Supposing the triangle A, B, C, to represent a section 
of the surface of the earth, C being the pole, and A, B, 
an arc of the equator. A, C, and B, C, two meridians, 

1 The meridional distance of 10° at the equator being = /c, the 
distances of the parallels, according to Mercator, were — 

_o o I 



10° -20° 



cosine 5 
I 



cosine 15 

20°-30'' = K— ^i ,- 

cosine 25 

This distance from the equator to 80° of latitude would there- 
fore be — 

k\ + + + + 

cos 5 cos 15 COS 25 cos 35 

I . I.I, I 



cos 45 cos 55 cos 6 5 cos 75 
The correct formula is Mer . Parts for 1° = log. tan. 

V 

(45° + ^). 



1594] PROGRESS OF THE ART OF NAVIGATION. 149 



the distance between the meridians a degree of longi- 
tude, and the distance between the parallels A, B, and 
D, E, a degree of latitude. Then let A be the point 
of departure of a ship, and E its port of destination. 
The line A, E, is the line which the ship will take, or 
its course. If the meridians are made parallel, they 
will be represented by the lines 
A, F, and B, G. The conse- 
quence is that the position of 
the port of destination is 
changed from E to I. This 
was the distortion caused by 
the old plane chart. The dia- 
gram shows that the line E, I, 
not only increased the dis- 
tance, but altered the course. 
Mercator's object was to cure 
the distortion in direction, that 
is, to keep the course correct, 
even if he increased the dis- 
tortion in distance. He effec- 
ted this by pushing the port 
of destination farther north to 
H. In other words, he length- 
ened the degrees of latitude 
as they receded from the 
equator towards the pole in 

the same proportion in which the degrees of longi- 
tude are lengthened in consequence of the meridians 
being made parallel The courses would always be cor- 
rect, although the distances would be distorted. 

But Mercator supplied no practical method of work- 
ing out his principle. He died before any use had been 




MiiKCATOK S PKOJECTIOK. 



150 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1480. 

made of it; and it was reserved for an Englishman, who 
combined practice with theory, to utilise his idea by 
supplying rules for constructing charts on his principle. 
Mercator breathed his last at Duisburg in the year that 
Davis wrote his " Seaman's Secrets." Tables of meri- 
dional parts, which supply the omission of Mercator, had 
already been prepared in England. 

Germans and Flemings had thus made great advances 
in theory, but the nations which took part in the mari- 
time discoveries of the fifteenth century felt the neces- 
sity for converting theory into practice. Portugal took 
the lead in this work, followed closely by the sister 
kingdom of the peninsula. Pedro Nunez, better known 
as Nonius, lived from 1497 to 1577. He taught mathe- 
matics at Coimbra for many years, and published his 
work on the art of navigation in 1530. Nonius gave 
the solution of several problems, including the deter- 
mination of the latitude by the sun's double altitude. 
He introduced the use of rhumb lines on charts, and 
exposed the errors of plane charts, without, however, 
suggesting any improvement. The Spaniard Martin 
Fernandez Enciso was the contemporary of Nonius, 
but he was an explorer as well as an astronomical 
student. In his "Suma de Geografia," the second 
edition of which was published in 1530, he gives tables 
of declination and descriptions of the use of instru- 
ments. His work was the first practical navigation 
book for the use of sailors. Enciso was followed by 
Guevara, Zamorano, and Chaves ; but the best known 
Spanish navigation books were those of Medina and 
Cortes. The *' Rules of Navigation," by Pedro de Medina, 
first published at Seville in 1563, went through many 
editions, and was translated into Dutch with a supple- 



JS:4l PKOGKESS OF THE AET OF NAVIGATION. 151 

ment by Michel Coignet of Antwerp. It was the work 
on which Dutch navigators mainly relied in their voy- 
ages during the earlier years of independence, and a copy 
was found at the winter quarters of Barents in Novaya 
Zemlya in 187 1, which had endured the Arctic frosts 
and snows for nearly three centuiies. But Martin 
Cortes was the Spanish author best known in England. 
His work covered more ground than that of Medina, 

ft-ojectioa IVojectum. 





Plane 
Chart. 


Lanibert's 
IiirivBlent 
Cylnjdrical 
R-ojection. 


69 










70 


90 






so 










60 








50 






60 
















50 


70 






60 






SO 






10 






5G 










4o 








«0 






SO 










30 


SO 






50 






26- 






20 


















ko-] 






U) 






10 













TAEIOtJS PROJECTIONS. 



and was entitled "A Brief Compendium of the Sphere 
and of the Art of Navigation, with New Instruments, 
and Bules illustrated by very Subtle Demonstrations." 
Cortes was the first to suggest the existence of a mag- 
netic pole different from the pole of the earth. Spanish 
pilots had to pass a stiff examination before receiving 
charge of a ship ; and such care was taken in ascertain- 
ing positions and in navigating, that Spanish seamen 



152 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1480. 

were constantly held up as examples to Euglishmen by 
the writers of the day. Practice led, in some instances, 
to the introduction of improvements and to inventions ; 
and it is probable that when Sarmiento tells us that he 
himself constructed a new cross-staff to subtend a larger 
angle than could be taken with any then in use, he was 
endeavouring to observe a lunar distance. 

When England began to take a lead in maritime 
enterprise, her people were far behind the sailors of the 
Peninsula in knowledge of nautical astronomy and navi- 
gation. As Englishmen acquired skill in the art of 
war by studying the military system of the Spanish 
army in the Low Countries, so they took Spanish navi- 
gators as their masters and instructors in the seaman's 
art. In both they soon came up with and passed their 
guides. The first publications for the use of English 
sailors were the " Rutters of the Sea," the earliest 
having been written in the fifteenth century ; but they 
were merely rough sailing directions for the English 
and adjacent coasts. It was to Stephen Borough, the 
Arctic navigator and countryman of Davis, that Eng- 
land owes her first navigation book. Feeling the want 
of such a manual very strongly, he induced Mr. Richard 
Eden, the publisher of the first collection of voyages 
and travels, to undertake a translation of the Spanish 
work of Martin Cortes. It appeared in 1561, and there 
were ten fresh additions between that date and 1615. 
The work of Guevara was published in a translated 
form by Edward Hello wes in 1578. Medina was also 
translated into English by John Frampton in 1581, but 
it never attained the same popularity as Eden's edition 
of Cortes. 

Bourne's "Regiment of the Sea," published in 1573, 



1594] PROGEESS OF THE AET OF NAVIGATION. 153 

was the first original work on navigation by an English- 
man, but even it was merely designed as a supplement 
to Cortes. There was a considerable demand for it, and 
an enlarged edition was brought out by Dr. Thomas 
Hood in 1596, with new tables of the sun's declination. 
A special interest attaches to the work of Bourne, be- 
cause it is the first in which the existing method of 
measuring the run of a ship is fully described. It has 
scarcely been improved since. A " log ship " is thrown 
overboard in such a way that it remains in the water 
where it falls, while the line attached to it is allowed to 
run out during a fixed interval, timed either by counting 
or by a minute-glass. Then the number of knots marked 
on the line that have run out is to the time interval 
shown by the glass as the number of miles equivalent 
to the knots is to an hour. After the publication of 
Bourne's " Regiment " the practice of heaving the log 
is mentioned in narratives of voyages, especially by 
Luke Fox in his voyage to Hudson's Bay.^ 

As the interest in maritime adventure increased in 
England, and voyages became more numerous, the de- 
mand for navigation books and instruments became 
greater. The attention of many of the ablest men in 
both Universities was turned to the subject. Dr. Dee 
contributed several useful treatises from his richly-stored 
brain ; John Blagrave and Thomas Hood made improve- 
ments in the astrolabe and cross-staff, and Thomas 
Blundeville wrote his " Exercises" in 1594, which was 
very popular, and went through several editions. The 
science of terrestrial magnetism was much advanced in 

^ Bourne in his ** Inventions or Devices" (1578), No. 21, tells 
us that the deviser of the log and line was Humphrey Cole of the 
Mint in the Tower, 



154 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [14S0. 

England during the same period. The subject of com- 
pass variation was first treated of in the " Discourse of 
the Magnet and Loadstone," by William Borough in 
1 581, and it was more closely investigated by Robert 
Norman. In a work called the " New Attractive," Nor- 
man described his discovery of the dip of the needle and 
his invention of the dipping-needle. A few years after- 
wards the series of observations for the variation of the 
compass at London was commenced, which has been con- 
tinued uninterruptedly to the present day. But the 
greatest advance was made by Dr. Gilbert of Colchester, 
who, in his work published in 1600, propounded the 
theory that the earth itself was a magnet. 

The learned cosmographers who had acquired prac- 
tical experience by making sea-voyages did most valu- 
able services to nautical science in England as else- 
where, and it is to one of these that we owe the com- 
plete utilisation of charts on Mercator's projection. 
Edward Wright was a native of Garveston, a village ,in 
Norfolk, and was born in 1560, being nine years of age 
when Mercator published his chart in 1569. He was 
entered of Gonville and Caius College at Cambridge, 
and before many years he became well known as a 
profound mathematician. He accompanied the Earl of 
Cumberland in his expedition to the Azores in 1590, 
and we have already seen how he met John Davis at 
Horta, in the island of Fayal. Wright then acquired 
that practical knowledge of navigation which completed 
his education. He applied the test of practice to his 
theories, and saw for himself of what sailors were most in 
need. From that time he gave much attention to the 
improvement of the charts then in use. He tells us 
how the chart of Mercator suggested the means. " By 



1594] PROGEESS OF THE ART OF NAVIGATION. 155 

reason, he wrote, "of that map of Mercator, I first 
thought of correcting so many and grave errors and 
absurdities in common use on charts, by increasing 
distances of parallels from the equinoctial to the pole. 
But the way liow it should he done^ I learnt neither of 
Mercator nor of any one else." 

After his return from the voyage to the Azores, 
Wright resided at Cambridge as Fellow of his Ccllege, 
and it was there, in 1594, that he discovered the 
method of dividing the meridian, in the very year of 
Mercator's death. He sent his discovery to his friend 
Thomas Blundeville, with a table of meridional parts, a 
specimen of a chart correctly divided, and an explana- 
tion of the principle. All this was published in the 
same year in Blundeville's "Exercises." Wright did 
not publish his own treatise, entitled "The Correction of 
Certain Errors in Navigation," until five years after- 
wards. He then showed the principle of the division 
of meridians, the manner of constructing a table of 
meridional parts, and its uses in navigation. So that 
it is to Wright, the practical navigator, and not to 
Mercator, the theoretical student, that the honour is 
due of being the first to demonstrate the true principle 
upon which sea-charts should be constructed, by means 
of tables of meridional parts. Before Wright's publica- 
tion of the tables Mercator's projection was practically 
useless. Almost immediately after Wright's publication 
the charts on Mercator's projection came into general 
use; Hondius having produced his new chart of the 
world at Amsterdam, by the use of Wright's tables, in 
1595. Mercator was the inventor. Wright completed 
the invention, and made it practically useful. 

Wiight was not the only learned university professor 



156 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1480. 

who combined practical knowledge of life at sea with 
theoretical study. Robert Hues of Hereford, who was 
born in the same year as John Davis, was an Oxford 
graduate. He was the friend of Sir "Walter E-aleigh 
and his executor. He accompanied Cavendish in his 
second voyage, and had also been on the coast of North 
America. Hues and Davis must often have met at 
Port Desire and in the Straits of Magellan, and have 
exchanged ideas. Davis would enjoy conversations 
with one who was deeply versed in the history of 
astronomical science, while Hues would benefit from 
the great practical experience of the Arctic navigator. 
The results of the learning and ripe knowledge of Hues 
were given to the world in his "Tractatus de Globis 
et eorum Usu," which was published in 1594. While 
reviewing all the knowledge of the ancient Greeks and 
Arabians, he explained the uses of the globe, and pro- 
pounded various problems in navigation, including that 
famous one afterwards proposed by Halley. The 
"Tractatus" was much read, and was translated into 
English and Dutch. It included a valuable chapter on 
the use of rhumbs by Thomas Heriot, another learned 
scholar who had practical experience as a navigator. 
Heriot accompanied Sir Kichard Grenville in his* 
voyage to Virginia, and wrote the " Brief and True 
Report of that New Found Land." He was the 
mathematical instructor of Raleigh, the correspondent 
of Kepler, and the author of a great work on algebra. 
Hues died at Oxford in 1632, at a good old age. But 
Heriot was a martyr to science. His death, in 1621, 
was due to a dreadful ulcer on his lip, caused by a 
habit of holding instruments with verdigris on them 
in his mouth. Wright, Hues, and Heriot were all 



1594] PROGEESS OF THE ART OF NAVIGATION. 157 

examples of men whose most useful work in advancing 
nautical science was due to their having added experi- 
ence derived from sea- voyages to the knowledge acquired 
in their studies. John Davis, on the other hand, was a 
man who added knowledge derived from students and 
books as opportunity offered to profound and extensive 
experience as a seaman. 



CHAPTER IX. 

AUTHORSHIP. 

John Davis wrote his work on navigation at Sandridge, 
and dated the dedication to Lord Howard of Effingham 
on the 2oth of August 1594. It is entitled, " The Sea- 
man's Secrets, divided into Two Parts, wherein is taught 
the Three Kinds of SaiUng, Horizontal, Paradoxal, and 
Sailiug on a Great Circle ; with many other most neces- 
sary Rules and Instruments not heretofore set forth by 
any." It was printed by Thomas Dawson, " dwelling near 
the Three Cranes in the Yinetree." 

The object of Davis was to furnish his brother sailors 
with hints and suggestions derived from his own long 
experience, rather than to write a regular treatise on 
navigation. He described his book as " a brief account 
of such practices as, in my several voyages, I have from 
experience collected." His dedication to his old admiral 
recalled the glorious days when the Spanish Armada was 
repulsed, and he touchingly referred to the false accusa- 
tion of treachery which had been made by Cavendish, 
but which his whole conduct refuted. He then makes 
some remarks on the importance of the art of navigation. 
** It is," he says, " the means whereby countries are 
discovered, and community drawn between nation and 
nation. By navigation commonweals, through mutual 



THE 

SEAMANS SE 

CRETS- 

Deuided into 2. partes, whereiDts taught the 

three kmdes of Sayl'mg, HmzontaU,^araioxdi^dfajihQ Vfm a 
great Circle : alfo an Horizontal! Tyde Tab!e for the ca/Ie finding cf 

ted tor tbelnding of the DedmAdoa oftke Snone aDdmany 
nhtxmtfi ntetflatj ndtf mi toflnmani 
mtbtwofirf fnjkorifi 

Newly correflcd by th c author lohn Dauls o^Sanirui^^ 




ly fmprinted at London by Thomas DaWon, 
dwdilingncere thethree Cranes in the Viflcta^ 



(fac-simile of title-page.) 



1594-98.] AUTHORSHIP. 159 

trade, are not only sustained but mightily enriched ; " 
and he therefore claims that the " painful seaman ought 
to be held in great esteem, by whose hard adventures 
such excellent benefits are achieved ; for by his exceed- 
ing great hazards the form of the earth, the quantities 
of countries, the diversity of nations, the natures of 
climates, countries, and people, are made known to us." 
He takes Spain as an example, pointing out that the 
greatness of that nation is caused by " the painful in- 
dustry of the Spaniards in navigation." 

The momentous character of the subject makes it the 
duty of every man who has a knowledge of it to impart 
that knowledge to the best of his abilities, " among whom, 
as the most unmeet of all, j^et wishing all good to the 
painful traveller, I have published this short treatise, 
naming it the ' Seaman's Secrets,' because by certain 
questions demanded and answered I have not omitted 
anything that appertaineth to the secret of navigation, 
whereby if there may grow any increase of knowledge 
or ease in practice, it is the thing which I chiefly desire. " 
The Vv^ork was intended for sailors. It was a book of 
wrinkles. Omitting " cunning conclusions " and pro- 
blems only suited for scholars to study on shore, it 
dwelt exclusively on '' those things that are needfully 
required in a sufficient seaman." He thus explained 
his intention to the Lord Admiral, but, in addressing 
his own brethren of the sea, he appealed with confidence 
to their sympathy. " I distrust not but all honest- 
minded seamen and pilots of reputation will gratefully 
accept this book — only in regard of my friendly good- 
will towards them, for it is not only in respect of my 
pains, but of my love that I would receive favourable 
courtesy." 



160 LIFE OF JOHN DAYIS. [1594. 

Davis divides the art of navigation into three parts. 
Horizontal navigation is the same as what is now called 
plane sailing, or problems which require the use of 
plane trigonometry only. By paradoxal sailing Davis 
means sailing on the spiral a ship would describe if she 
continued sailing round the world on any caurse except 
east and west^ north and south. He defines it also as 
the gathering together of many courses into one, or 
what is now called " working a traverse." A " traverse 
table " is now used to obviate the necessity for computa- 
tion which existed in the time of Davis. The third part 
is " great circle navigation," which Davis defines as 
the one shortest way between place and place, the ship 
keeping on the great circle which passes through the 
place of departure and the place of destination. 

Having defined the three kinds of navigation, Davis 
proceeds to describe the instruments which, in his time, 
" were necessary for the execution of this excellent skill." 
These were a sea- compass, a cross- staff and astrolabe 
for measuring the altitudes of heavenly bodies, an 
azimuth compass, a chart, and a paradoxal compass. 
This last instrument was probably designed to show 
how the line of the course cuts the several meridians, 
these meridians being drawn upon their proper inclina- 
tion. 

After explaining the use of these necessary instru- 
ments, the author treats of the moon's motion and of 
the tides, describing an instrument which he invented, 
called a *' horizontal tide-table," for finding the time 
of high and low water. The diagram referred to in the 
text is not to be found in the copy of the " Seaman's 
Secrets " at the British Museum ; but it is fully ex- 
plained, with several examples, and appears to have 



1598.] AUTHORSHIP. 161 

been a useful contrivance for assisting a navigator to 
ascertain the tides at various places. 

The rules for ascertaining the latitude are then given. 
Old writers almost invariably speak of the latitude as 
the pole's altitude, or the height of the pole. Davis 
begins by demonstrating the simple problem that the 
height of the pole above the horizon is equal to the lati- 
tude, and he then explains the methods of finding the 
latitude by observing the meridian altitude of the sun 
or of a fixed star. He describes the cross-staff, and the 
way to observe with it, and gives some necessary hints 
respecting corrections for declination, derived from his 
experience both in the Northern Seas and in Magellan's 
Straits. Davis used the " Ephemeris"of Stadias in pre- 
paring tables of the sun's declination, a work which was 
in general use in this country. Johannes Stadius was 
professor of mathematics at Paris, and afterwards at 
Louvain. He published his first almanac at Cologne in 

1545- 

The sections devoted by Davis to the sea-chart and 
its uses are very complete. He clearly explains the 
errors of the plane chart then in use, and shows that 
it is almost worthless for a long voyage ; although for 
short courses, and for plans of coast-lines and anchor- 
ages, it is " to very good purpose for the pilot's use." 
Davis lays down three rules which ought to be observed 
with special care by a good pilot. The first is to obtain 
a reliable observation for latitude^ the second to ascer- 
tain the variation of his compass, and the third to note 
down the rate the ship is going eveiy hour. The 
method of finding what a ship is going by the log and 
line, which was explained by Bourne in 1573, appears 
to have been in such general use in Davis's time that he 

L 



162 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1594/ 

did not think it necessary to refer to it. He, however, 
makes a number of practical suggestions, confessing at 
the same time that "these things are better learnt by 
practice than taught by pen," and he concludes this 
section of his subject with an admirable passage : — " It 
is not possible that any man can be a good and suffi- 
cient pilot or skilful seaman but by painful and diligent 
practice, with the assistance of art, whereby the famous 
pilot may be esteemed worthy of his profession, as a 
member meete for the common weal." Captain Bed- 
ford, in his "Sailor's Pocket- Book," impressed the same 
truth on his readers, nearly three centuries after Davis 
had written. " The mastery of the ocean cannot be 
learnt upon the shore, and can only be acquired by 
incessant practice on shipboard, and at sea." Davis 
illustrated his section on charts with a special chart 
of the British Channel, usually called "the Sleeve" in 
those days. It contained soundings as well as the out- 
lines of the coast, and was drawn partly from his own 
surveys, and partly from the work of other reliable 
pilots. He justly valued this carefully prepared chart, 
for it had never failed to give him the true position of 
his ship when he had got what he calls " the altitude 
and depth," in other words, the latitude and soundings. 
"Therefore," he says, "have it not in light regard, for 
it will give you great evidence, and is worthy to be kept 
as a special jewel for the seaman's use, be he never 
so expert." Unfortunately Davis's chart of the British 
Channel is neither in the copy of the "Seaman's Secrets" 
at the British Museum nor in that in the Pepys Library 
at Cambridge. 

Davis concludes his first book by giving the form 
in which a log should be kept, adding a page from the 



1598.] AUTHOESHIR 163 

log of the Desire in March 1593. The first coiumn 
gives the date, the second the observed latitude, the 
third the courses, the fourth the distances run, the 
fifth the wind, and the sixth the variation of the 
compass. 

The second book of the " Seaman's Secrets " is devoted 
to a description of the globe, its uses, and the solution 
of numerous problems by its means. Davis thought 
most highly of the globe as an instrument for use in 
navigation. " The use of the globe is of so great ease, 
certainty, and pleasure as that the commendations 
thereof cannot sufiiciently be expressed; for of all in- 
struments it is the most rare and excellent." Consider- 
ing the errors of a plane chart, it is no wonder that a 
carefvil and scientific seaman, like Davis, should turn 
to the globe for the solution of his problems. Un- 
acquainted with the tables by which Wright was about 
to utilise Mercator's projection, Davis had given much 
thought to some means of improving the sea-chart then 
in use. He announced his intention of publishing what 
he called a " paradoxal chart," serving the purpose of a 
globe. It was probably a scheme for representing the 
globe on a flat surface with due regard to the conver- 
gence of the meridians. But the publication of Wright 
was on the eve of bringing Mercator's projection into 
general use. 

At the close of his little volume, Davis gives an 
indication that he had discovered a method of solving 
problems in navigation by arithmetical calculation. He 
speaks of " that sweet skill of sailing which may well 
be called navigation arithmetical, because it wholly 
consisteth of calculations comprehended within the 
limits of numbers. For there can be nothing that by 



164 



LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. 



[1594. 



this heavenly harmony of numbers shall not be most 
copiously manifested, to the seaman's admiration and 
great content, the orderly practice whereof, to the best 
of my poor capacity, I purpose to make known." He 
never found an opportunity of fulfilling this promise, 
but he had evidently made some discovery of a means of 




THE CROSS STAFF. 



handling figures analogous to that which Napier gave 
to the world a few years later. It was reserved for 
Henry Briggs to improve upon the discovery of Napier, 
and to bring logarithms into general use, by the pub- 
lication of his " Arithmetica Logarithmica " in 1624. 
Davis was probably on the verge of a similar discovery. 



1598.] 



AUTHORSHIP. 



165 



This remarkable man was an enthusiast. His pat- 
riotism, and his love for his noble profession led him to 
concentrate all the energies of his mind on the means 
of improving the art of navigation and facilitating the 
work of seamen. *' It was not in respect of his pains, 




THE BACK-STAFF, OE DAVIS QUADRANT. 



but of his love," that he desired to be judged. Not 
only did he promote the safety of British ships by his 
surveys and charts, and assist their navigation by the 
publication of his secrets ; he also invented a great 
improvement in the instruments for observing for 
latitude. The " back-staff " or " Davis quadrant " was 



166 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1594. 

the offspring of his brain, and was perfected at about 
this time. It consisted of two concentric arcs of box 
wood, G, F, and E, D, and of three vanes. A, B, and C, 
with the necessary frame, the arc of one radius being 
60°, and of the other 30°. A vane was set on each arc, 
that on the longer arc, C, being called the sight vane, 
and on the shorter, B, the shade-vane. At the end of 
the long radius was the horizon-vane, A. The shade- 
vane upon the arc of 60° was set an even degree with 
some latitude less by 10° or 15° than the complement of 
the sun's altitude was judged to be. The observer then 
turned his back to the sun and looked through the sight- 
vane on the longer arc, raising or lowering the in- 
strument until the shadow of the upper edge of the 
shade- vane fell on the upper edge of the slit in the 
horizon-vane. Then, if he could see the horizon through 
the slit, the observation was exact and the vanes were 
rightly adjusted. If the sea or skj, and not the 
horizon, appeared, the sight-vane was moved upwards 
or downwards until the horizon was on. The degrees 
and minutes cut by the edge of the sight- vane, added to 
the degrees cut by the edge of the shade-vane, were 
equal to the complement of the latitude or zenith dis- 
tance. 

This instrument was a great improvement on the 
cross-staff, and came into general use. It was improved 
by Flamsteed, and was the forerunner of the discovery 
of the plan of taking angles by reflection. Davis's 
quadrant was the received instrument until Hadley's 
reflecting quadrant superseded it in 1731. 

It is to be regretted that the charts constructed by 
Davis have been lost, including those of his Arctic dis- 
coveries, of the Scilly Islands, of the British Channel, 



159^.] AUTHORSHIP. 167 

and of the Straits of Magellan. But his labours were 
not in vain, for his work was embodied in subsequent 
maps, and was useful alike to his own generation and 
to posterity. For instance, the Northern discoveries 
of Davis are given on that famous globe " which Mr 
Sanderson, to his very great charge, hath published, for 
the which he deserveth great favour and commenda- 
tions." The expenses of constructing this globe were 
defrayed by Mr. Sanderson, the old patron of Davis, and 
the construction of the two globes was intrusted to 
Emery Molyneux, an able mathematician and drafts- 
man. The celestial and terrestrial globes are two feet 
in diameter, beautifully executed and well mounted. 
They were completed in 1592, but received additions 
up to 1603. The terrestrial globe not only shows the 
discoveries of Davis, but the tracks of Drake and 
Cavendish round the world, and the later northern 
discoveries of Barents. The Molyneux globes were the 
first ever constructed in this country, and they are still 
preserved in the library of the Middle Temple. Such 
was the importance attached to them, that they formed 
the subject of special treatises by Hues and Hood, and 
were elaborately described by Blundeville, It is 
evident that Davis assisted in their preparation, for 
there are several names on the noi'thern coasts which 
he explored, that do not occur elsewhere ; and it is 
probable that the employment of Molyneux by Mr. 
Sanderson was due to the recommendation of the Arctic 
navigator. The globe of Molyneux has preserved the 
northern labours of Davis, although his original work is 
lost ; and the other charts which gave the results of his 
varied labours served a useful purpose during many 
years, and until they were superseded by later survey's 



168 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1594. 

The " New Map " of the world on Mercator's projection, 
which was intended to illustrate Hakluyt's great work, 
but which was not published until 1599, also contains 
the discoveries of Davis. It is attributed to Wright, 
but there is evidence that Davis assisted in its con- 
struction. Both the Molyneux globe and the *' New 
Map" of 1599 have the ^^ Furious OuerfalV^ at the 
entrance of Hudson's Strait. 

It was in these years of sorrowful retirement, when 
he turned to study and literary labour for some 
alleviation to his grief, that Da\ds probably achieved 
his most permanently useful work for mankind. His 
charts proved invaluable guides to British pilots for a 
long course of years, his treatise on navigation was 
equally serviceable, and his *' back-staff" facilitated 
observations, increased their accuracy, and was the 
direct forerunner of reflecting quadrants and of the 
sextants of the present day. Columbus, Behaim, and 
Enciso, Hues, Wright, and Heriot have been referred 
to as examples of men who advanced the science of 
navigation through a combination of practical expe- 
rience at sea with the theoretical knowledge of the 
student. But Davis is perhaps the most remarkable 
instance of the importance of such combination. His 
discoveries would not have been made, his hydrogra- 
phical work would not have been executed, his hints 
and suggestions for improvements in navigation would 
not have had the same value, if he had not combined 
scientific knowledge acquired by deep study, with un- 
rivalled experience as a practical seaman. Above all, 
he possessed and cultivated the power of hard work, and 
he was inspired by the patriotic desire to perform useful 
service to his country. "What made John Davis so 



1598.] AUTHOKSHIP. 169 

famous for navigation but his learning, which was con- 
firmed by experience," wrote Sir William Monson in 
one of his "Naval Tracts." 

The dream of Davis's life was the discovery of the 
North-West Passage, for the increase of the wealth and 
prosperity of his country. For this he undertook three 
dangerous voyages to the Arctic Regions ; for this he 
risked life and fortune in the Straits of Magellan ; and 
now, in his retirement, he took up his pen to make a 
final effort, with the hope of arousing in the Government 
and the country a sense of the importance of achieving 
this great undertaking. Sir Francis Walsingham, the 
powerful and enlightened patron of Arctic discovery, 
had died on the 6th of April 1590. But surely some 
of his patriotic spirit must linger with his colleagues. 
In the hope that zeal for exploration was not quite dead 
at the Council Board, but only sleeping, Davis addressed 
an appeal to the Lords of Her Majesty's Most Honour- 
able Privy Council on the 27th of May 1595, just ten 
years after his departure on his first Arctic voyage. 

The appeal is entitled " The Worlde's Hydrographical 
Description, wherein is proved, not onely by aucthoritie 
of Writers, but also by late experience of Travellers and 
reasons of substantial probabilitie, that the World in 
all his zones, climates, and places is habitable, and the 
sea likewise universally navigable without any natural 
annoyance to hinder the same ; whereby appeares that 
from England there is a short and speedie passage to 
India by northerly navigation ; to the renown, honour, 
and beneiSt of Her Majesty's State and Commonalty." 
It was published by "J. Davis of Sand ridge by Dart- 
mouth, in the county of Devon, Gentleman," and printed 
at London by " Thomas Dawson, dwelling at the Three 



170 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1594. 

Cranes in the Yinetree, and are there to be sold," in 

1595- 

Davis opens his argument by stating the objections 
of adverse critics. It was urged that America and 
Asia were joined, so as to make a passage impossible, 
as was shown by the fact that the passage had been 
often attempted and never achieved. Another objection 
was, that even if the continents were not joined, the 
cold is so extreme that no mortal creature can endure 
it. The quantities of ice carried down to Newfound- 
land, by which fishermen are "so noisomely pestered," 
proves that the sea to the northward is congealed into 
one mass of ice. " When in these temperate parts of 
the world the shod of that frozen sea breedeth such 
noisome pester as the poor fishermen do continually 
sustain, what hope remains in 60° to 80° ? " Finally, it 
was argued that no ordinary sea-chart can describe 
those regions, either in the parts geographical or hydro^ 
graphical, where the meridians do so speedily gather 
themselves together, and where quick and uncertain 
variation of the compass may greatly hinder or over- 
throw the attempt. 

The replies, as is natural, are set forth much more 
fully than the objections. The connection of Asia and 
America is disproved both by the evidence of ancient 
writers and modern explorers. America must needs 
be an island, seeing that we know Europe, Asia, and 
Africa to be an island, on the authority of Homer, 
Strabo, Pomponius Mela, Higinus, and Solinus. But 
we need not rely on any early authorities, seeing that 
we have the evidence of later discoveries. From the 
North Cape to the Cape of Good Hope the navigation 
is continuous, the nearest part of the American conti- 



1598.] AUTHOESHIR 171 

nent being 500 leagues distant. On the other hand, 
from the North Cape to Novaya Zemlya there is 
passable sailing, and the north parts of Tartary to 
the Cape Tabin of Pliny are known to be bounded 
by the Scythian Sea. It is apparent, therefore, that 
America must be far removed from the Old World. In 
like manner, the south side, from the Cape of Good 
Hope, by Sofala, Mozambique, Arabia, India, Malacca, 
and China to Cape Tabin, the coasts are all bounded by 
a great ocean. From California to the Philippines the 
distance is 2100 leagues, so that it is clearly manifest 
that Europe, Asia, and Africa form an island far distant 
from America. 

These premises, as Davis next proceeded to show, had 
been established by the attempts of explorers. Sir 
Hugh Willoughby, Stephen Borough, and Anthony Jen- 
kinson made voyages to the north-east which proved 
that the north parts of Europe were not joined to any 
other continent. The voyages of the Portuguese and 
Spaniards show that America is far from India and the 
other southern coasts of Asia. It is true that the 
Spaniards take pains to conceal their knowledge, but 
they trade from Mexico to China and Japan, and they 
have information that the east coast of Asia lies due 
north and south as high as Cape Tabin, where the 
Scythian Sea and the main ocean of China are con- 
joined. 

Davis then turns with pride to the achievements of 
his own countrymen. "John Hawkins," he says, 
" was the first to attempt a voyage to the West Indies, 
for before he made the attempt it was a matter doubtful, 
and reported the extremest limit of danger, to sail upon 
those coasts. So that it was generally in dread among 



172 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1594. 

lis, such is the slowness of our nation, for the most part 
of us rather joy at home like epicures, to sit and carp 
at other men's hazard, ourselves not daring to give 
any attempt. How then may Sir John Hawkins be 
esteemed, who being a man of good account in his 
country, of wealth and great employment, did notwith- 
standing, for the good of his country to procure trade, 
give that notable and resolute attempt. Whose steps 
many hundreds following since, have made themselves 
men of good esteem, and fit for the service of Her 
sacred Majesty. . . . Then succeeded Sir Francis 
Drake in his famous and ever- renowned voyage round 
the world, who passed the dangers of the Straits of 
Magellan, coasted all the west coast of America to 48° 
N., and found that the Moluccas were 200 leagues from 
the American continent." 

Davis then turns to the evidence derivable from his 
own Arctic voyages. " There resteth only the north 
parts of America, upon which coast myself have had 
most experience of any in our age; for thrice I was 
that way employed, for the discovery of this notable 
passage. But when his Honour (Sir Francis Walsing- 
ham) died, the voyage was friendless, and men's minds 
alienated from adventuring therein." He proceeds to 
describe the results of his three Arctic voyages, and 
concludes his review with the expression of a decided 
opinion that the passage was to be found northwards 
from Hope Sanderson. "But," he adds, "by reason of 
the Spanish fleet and unfortunate time of Mr. Secre- 
tary's death, the voyage was omitted and never sithins 
attempted." The interesting digression in which Davis 
explains the objects and results of his own voyages was 
made to stay the cavils of those whomight say, " Why 



1598.] AUTHOKSHIP. 173 

hath not Davis discovered the passage, being thrice that 
ways employed ? " 

Having established the fact of the insularity of 
America, and of the consequent existence of a North- 
West Passage, Davis proceeds to deal with the objections 
based on the physical condition of the country. Those 
who sail from the North Cape to St. Nicholas in the 
White Sea, find that the seas are free from the pester 
of ice ; the farther from the shore the clearer from ice. 
He did not deny that he had himself seen in some parts 
of those seas two sorts of ice in great quantity — icebergs 
breaking off from the glacier, and flake-ice bordering 
close on the shore. But he had found navigation free 
from ice up to 72° N., and he maintained that the open 
sea was never frozen over. 

With regard to the intense cold, he appeals to the 
facts that the people of Lapland and Russia travel in 
mid- winter in sledges over the snow, having the use of 
reindeer to draw them; that in Greenland the country 
is inhabited by people of tractable conditions, and by 
divers kinds of birds and beasts, while in summer there 
are such quantities of mosquitos that he and his people 
were stung by them, and unable to have quiet while 
they were on shore ; and that Iceland is also inhabited. 

He puts forward the opinion that the pole is the 
place of greatest dignity on this earth, by reason of the 
long presence of the sun, and a place most worthy to 
be discovered. The author of the *' Seaman's Secrets " 
easily disposes of the objection based on want of 
astronomical knowledge on the part of his brother 
sailors, and he enumerates some of the advantages to 
be derived from polar exploration. 

Davis tells the Lords of the Council that he is always 



1(4 



LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. 



[>594- 












1598.] AUTHOKSHIP. 175 

ready " with his person and his poor ability " to under- 
take the service whensoever he may be called upon, and 
he concludes with an eloquent and enthusiastic appeal 
in favour of his project. *' All the premises considered, 
there remaineth no more doubting but that there is a 
passage by the north-west, of God for us alone ordained 
to our infinite happiness, and for the glory of Her 
Majesty. Then will her stately seat of London be the 
storehouse of Europe, the nurse of the world, and the re- 
nown of nations ; and all this by reason of the excellent 
commodity of her position, the mightiness of her trade 
by force of shipping thereby arising, and most abundant 





DAVIS'S AUTOGRAPH. 



access and intercourse from all the kingdoms of the 
world. Then shall the idle hand be scorned, and plenty 
by industry in all this land shall be proclaimed. There- 
fore the passage proved and the benefits to all most 
apparent, let us no longer neglect our happiness, but 
like Christians, with willing and voluntary spirits, labour 
without fainting for this so excellent a benefit." 

For a time the gallant sailor entertained a hope that 
his stirring appeal would not be without efiFect upon the 
minds of the Lords of the Council. He thought that 
his clarion blast would revive the spiiit of enterprise, 
and rouse men from their lethargy. Once more he 



176 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1594. 

fancied himself sailing out of that lovely harbour of 
Dartmouth, and steering towards his beloved polar seas 
with the cry of " Northward ho ! " Once more his pulse 
beat high with enthusiasm, and all the hopes of his 
youth were renewed. But the time slipped past, and 
no favourable reply arrived. Slowly and unwillingly 
he told himself that the prize was not for him. He 
had worked hard, he had nobly borne the heat and 
burden of the day. But the fruition was for other 
men, for later generations. Yet there was woik for 
him to do elsewhere. He could no longer remain idle, 
and before the year 1595 was ended it would appear 
that John Davis was again at sea. 

During the following two years there is nothing from 
the great seaman's own hand, and only faint though 
tolerably certain indications of the services on which 
he was employed. He received command of a ship 
belonging to Mr. Honeyman, a merchant of London, 
who traded with Rochelle and the south of France, and 
often supplied Mr. Secretary Cecil with valuable infor- 
mation, Davis's vessel was captured by some French 
ships of the League sent out of the ports of Brittany 
by the Due de Mercoeur ; but they only took the cargo, 
allowing the ship and crew to go free. On his return 
from this unlucky venture, he found the English ports 
busy with preparation ; for the Queen had resolved to 
carry the war into the enemy's territory and to attack 
the important city of Cadiz. 

Davis had many old friends in the fleet destined for 
the service of delivering a crushing blow to Spanish 
commerce. His old admiral of the Armada days 
commanded the fleet in the same stout ship, the Aric 
lioyal, and he naturally took with him his nephew, Lord 



1598.] AUTHORSHIP. 177 

Thomas Howard, in the Mere-Honour, and his sou-in-law, 
Sir Robert Southwell, in the Lion ; while the gallant Sir 
Ames Preston, who had served with Davis in the Azores 
under the Earl of Cumberland, was flag-captain. The 
chivalrous young Earl of Essex commanded the land 
forces, with Sir Francis Vere as his marshal and chief 
adviser. Essex was on board the Repulse, with Sir 
William Monson as his captain, and Vere was in the 
Rainhoio. Sir Walter Raleigh was rear-admiral in the 



Warspite, and for him were all the naval glories of the 
campaign ; while Essex and Vere shared the credit 
of capturing Cadiz with the land forces. Leaving 
Plymouth on the ist of June 1596, the operations of 
this well-planned and successful expedition were com- 
pleted by the 5th of July, and the fleet returned on the 
8th of August. In the following year the expedition to 
the Azores was dispatched, under the command of the 
Earl of Essex, which is known in history as the ''Island 
Voyage." This time Essex was again on board the 
Repulse, with Middleton as his flag-captain, the same 
officer who had cruised with Davis in 1590, and who 
had brought the news of the approach of the Spanish 
fleet to the heroic Grenville in 1591. Raleigh again 
commanded the Warspite. Sir Ames Preston was with 
Lord Mount joy in the Defiance. Vere was in the 
Mai'i/ Rose, with Winter, the companion of Drake and 
discoverer of Winter's bark in Magellan's Straits, as his 
captain. Monson commanded a ship of his own, the 
Eainhoio. The Moon was commanded by Sir Edward 
Michelborne, a brave seaman, whose name is connected 
with the last days of John Davis. Sailing from Ply- 
mouth in August 1597, this expedition cruised among 

M 



178 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1594-98. 

the Azores, for which islands Davis was an excellent 
pilot, and returned in November. 

It is certain that Davis served under Essex in one or 
both of these expeditions ; for in a letter to the Earl 
written after his return from India, he says that he 
ordered his men " after that excellent method which we 
have seen in your Lordship's most honourable actions." 
Collateral evidence is also furnished by Sir William 
Monson in his "Naval Tracts," who says that he often 
had conversations with Davis during these expeditions ; 
and immediately afterwards we find Davis under the 
patronage of the Earl of Essex. In all probability he 
was pilot of the Repulse at Cadiz and in the Azores. 
The expedition to the Azores returned in November 
1597, at the very time when the Zeelanders were 
fitting out an expedition for the East Indies. The 
voyage of Lancaster had drawn the attention of Eng- 
lish statesmen to the East, and it was considered very 
important that further information should be obtained 
respecting the various routes and centres of commerce. 
The Earl of Essex, therefore, suggested to Davis that if 
he could arrange to accompany the Dutch expedition to 
India, he would have an opportunity of doing good and 
acceptable service to his Queen and country. Particulars 
respecting the equipment of ships destined for India 
by a wealthy mercantile house in Zeeland had been 
reported by Sir Francis Yere. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE DUTCH VOYAGE. 

The quaint little town of Veere is built along the banks 
of a canal which runs through the island of Walcheren 
in Zeeland. At the south entrance of this canal is the 
port of Flushing, then (in 1598) in the hands of an 
English garrison under the command of Sir Kobert 
Sydney as a cautionary town. Half-way down the 
canal is Middelburg, the capital of Zeeland, with its 
stately town hall, containing niches with statues of the 
Counts of Holland, and its vast monastery, with hall 
and cloisters, converted to secular purposes. Hard by 
the cloister gate stood the house of Zacharias Jansen, 
who constructed the first telescope in 1608. At the 
north end of the canal was the thriving port of Yeere, 
famous in English history as the place where our King 
Edward lY. embarked on his triumphal return in 1470. 
Now Yeere is a forlorn little town, with grass-grown 
streets, and many houses for sale. But the scene was 
very different in the sixteenth century. The canal, 
opening on the " Room-pot " or "cream-jug," as the sea 
was called between the islands of Walcheren and 
Schouwen, was crowded with shipping. The quay was 
busy with the working of cranes and windlasses, and 
the carrying to and fro of merchandise. The houses, 

179 



ISO LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1598. 

with their curiously carved gables, were inhabited by 
wealthy merchants. High above them rose the great 
church and the handsome town hall, rich in pictures and 
valuable plate. Here is the exquisitely chased silver 
flagon representing the passage of the Rhine by Maxi- 
milian of Burgundy ; and the walls are hung with curious 
representations of sea-fights between Hooks and Kabel- 
jaws, which took place in sight of the port of Yeere. 

A rapid and marvellous change had come over the 
face of this island of Walcheren. Only a quarter of a 
century before 1598, when Davis landed on its shores, 
the country was in the hands of a cruel enemy, the 
fields were devastated, and Middelburg was held by a 
Spanish garrison. In 1572 Sir Humphrey Gilbert, the 
neighbour and early companion of John Davis, had 
landed with a feeble force of inexperienced recruits to 
help the Dutch patriots against the matchless infantry 
of Spain. It was a life and death struggle for many 
years, but the right prevailed at last. In 1598 there 
was no longer any danger from the terrible enemy of 
liberty. He was gone like an evil dream. Peace and 
prosperity reigned in Walcheren. Flushing was 
occupied by friendly allies. Middelburg was the busy 
capital of a free State. Yeere was a thriving seaport. 
Not a little of this prosperity was due to the short- 
sighted bigotry of the Spaniards. Their Inquisition had 
obliged large numbers of the most active and industrious 
citizens of Antwerp and other cities of FlandCrs to 
take refuge with their free neighbours, and these exiles 
gave an additional impulse to the commercial enterprise 
of the Dutch. 

Balthazar de Moucheron was one of the most illus- 
trious of the Antwerp fugitives. He established a great 



i6oi.] THE DUTCH VOYAGE. 181 

commercial house at Middelbu'rg, whence he removed to 
Veere in 1597. It is very striking, and proves what 
a stimulating effect the love of liberty has on a people 
under its influence, that the Dutch should have pushed 
forward voyages of discovery and commercial enter- 
prise at the very time that they were grappling with 
Spain in a struggle for bare life. But so it was. 
Moucheron opened a trade with Russia, and sent his 
brother Melchior to reside on the river Dvina and 
form a commercial establishment in the White Sea. 
Melchior is said to have been the founder of Archangel. 
The attention of the Dutch merchants was turned to the 
possibility of opening a direct trade with India and the 
Spice Islands by the reports of Linschoten, and it was 
not long before the great merchant prince of Yeere 
took the lead in those new ventures. 

Jan Huygen van Linschoten was born at Haarlem in 
1563, but his parents moved to Enkhuizen on the 
Zuyder Zee when he was a child, and he was brought 
up there. Of a roving disposition, young Linschoten 
joined his brothers, who were engaged in commercial 
pursuits in Spain, and he went thence to Lisbon, where 
he was allowed to embark on board a fleet which was 
taking out a new Archbishop to Goa in 1583. He 
remained in India for five years, chiefly at Goa, where 
he diligently collected information. On his way home, 
he was at the Azores when Sir Richard Grenville in the 
Revenge fought the whole Spanish fleet, and his nar- 
rative usefully supplements the report of Sir Walter 
Raleigh. Returning home in 1592, Linschoten pro- 
ceeded to give his countrymen the valuable results of 
his travels. His '* Nautical Directory" appeared in 
1595, and his "Itineraris" in the following year. The 



182 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1598. 

merchants of Amsterdam were incited by the infor- 
mation of Linschoten to attempt voyages to the East 
by two different routes, even before his books were 
published. An expedition was sent by the Cape of 
Good Hope in 1594 to make a voyage to the East 
Indies, under the command of Cornells de Houtman ; 
but it returned without any very lucrative result, and 
the Amsterdam merchants were not particularly satis- 
fied with the way in which it had been conducted. In 
the same year the first of three memorable attempts 
was made by the Dutch to discover a route to China and 
the Indies by the north-east. The expedition consisted 
of three vessels, the Sican of Yeere, the Mercury of 
Enkhuysen, with Linschoten on board as supercargo, 
and another Mercury of Amsterdam, commanded by 
William Barents, the most illustrious of Dutch Arctic 
navigators. While Linschoten examined the ice in the 
Kara Sea, Barents discovered the whole of the west 
coast of N"ova5^a Zemlya, struggling persistently with 
the ice, constantly observing for latitude and variation, 
and making an accurate survey. The ships returned in 
September, and Linschoten made such an encouraging 
report that the Dutch merchants resolved to send out a 
fleet of several vessels in the ensuing year to achieve 
the North-East Passage. Two vessels were fitted out in 
Zeeland under the auspices of the house of Moucheron, 
the Griffin and Swan. Enkhuysen furnished two ships, 
and Amsterdam sent the Greyhound under Barents as 
chief pilot. But they were unable to get through the 
ice in the Waigat, and returned unsuccessful. 

The efforts of Barents and of the eminent geographer 
Plancius induced the Amsterdam merchants to make 
one more attempt. Barents sailed in May 1596, dis- 



i6oi.] THE DUTCH VOYAGE. 183 

covered the north-western coast of Spitzbergen, rounded 
the northern extremity of Novaya Zemlya, and passed 
his memorable winter in the haven on the north-eastern 
coast. The ship was abandoned, and the crew escaped 
in boats, Barents himself dying in the midst of his 
discoveries. The survivors reached Amsterdam in N'o- 
vember 1597, and the Arctic attempts of the Dutch came 
to an end, although in the succeeding century their 
whalers did much to complete the discovery of the 
Spitzbergen coasts. 

Linschoten continued to live at Enkhuysen, in the 
society of accomplished geographers and seamen, chief 
among whom was his neighbour Lucas Jansz Wagenaar, 
author of the " IMariner's Mirror," the nrst marine 
atlas ever published. Four editions appeared between 
1584 and 1596, and it was translated into English by 
Anthony Ashley in 1588. The fourth edition contains 
a chart of Norway by Barents, and observations on his 
expeditions to the north. While his friend Wagenaar 
was engaged in the preparation of valuable charts, 
Linschoten supervised the publication of his eastern 
travels, and translated the valuable history of the 
Western Indies by Acosta from Spanish into Dutch. 
Linschoten died at Enkhuysen at the age of forty-eight, 
in 161 1. His "Itinerario" had been published in Eng- 
lish in 1598. 

It was the valuable and detailed information col- 
lected by Linschoten which induced Balthazar de Mou- 
cheron to turn his attention to the East Indies, and on 
the failure of the three attempts of the Dutch under 
Barents to discover a passage by the north-east, he 
resolved to dispatch an expedition by way of the Cape 
of Good Hope. He informed the States- General of his 



184 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1598. 

intention, and requested that his ships might be sup- 
plied with guns and ammunition. Every encourage- 
ment was given to him, and an order was issued that an 
armament from the Zeeland arsenal should be furnished 
to his ships. The news of his undertaking was received 
with interest in Holland and in England. Sir Francis 
Vere, the general in command of the English troops in 
the Low Countries, reported the details to the Queen's 
Government. It was probably in consequence of this 
report that the Earl of Essex suggested to Davis that 
he should accompany the expedition. Two ships were 
fitted out at Middelburg, De Lteim (the Lion) and De 
Leeuwin (the Lioness), the former commanded by Cor- 
nelius de Houtman, who had charge of the Amsterdam 
voyage to India in 1595, and the latter by his brother, 
Erederik de Houtman. Cornelius de Houtman was 
the Baas or commander-in-chief, with Pieter Stockman 
as captain, and Guyon Lefort as treasurer of the Lion. 

In the winter of 1598 John Davis came over to 
Walcheren to offer his services to the merchant-prince 
of Yeere. The friend of Ealeigh, of Walsingham, and of 
Essex would have been welcomed by many friends. The 
governor of Flushing was a brother-in-law of Walsing- 
ham's daughter; and young Arthur Randolph, a captain 
in Yere's army, and son of Walsingham's intimate friend 
and relative, was married to the daughter of Jacques 
Gellert, the wealthy burgomaster of Flushing. Through 
these friends Davis would have had no difficulty in 
making the acquaintance of the leading merchants of 
Middelburg and Veere. But their assistance would have 
been superfluous. The fame of John Davis as a dis- 
coverer and as a scientific seaman had spread to Holland. 
He needed no introduction when he presented himself 



l6oi.] THE DUTCH VOYAGE. 185 

at the house of Balthazar Moiicheron at Yeere. The 
offer of his services was readily accepted, and he was 
appointed chief pilot of the expedition on board the 
Lion. A few other Englishmen joined, including a 
Mr. Hopkins, who was an acceptable messmate to the 
chief pilot, a countryman and friend in the midst of 
jealous and suspicious foreigners. 

The Lion and Lioness sailed from Flushing on the 
15th of March 1598. The Lion was 400 tons, with a 
crew of 123 persons, and the Lioness 250 tons, with 100 
souls on board. Houtman had the title of General, 
with a commission from Prince Maurice of Orange, 
but he was usually called the Baas. The two ships 
were at anchor in Tor Bay for more than a fortnight, 
and Davis had the opportunity of paying a last visit to 
his little boys at Sand ridge. On the 7 th of April the 
wind was at last fair, and the Lion and Lioness made 
sail, sighting Porto Santo on the 20th, Palma on the 
23rd, and anchoring at St. Nicholas, one of the Cape 
Verds, on the 30th. 

After watering at St. Nicholas, the long voyage across 
the equator was commenced — a voyage of which Davis 
had already had experience — and the coast of Brazil 
was sighted on the 9th of June ; but refreshment was 
obtained at the lonely island of Fernando Noronha. This 
solitary spot in the South Atlantic had already been 
occupied by the Portuguese. Davis found that it was 
inhabited by twelve negro slaves, who had been left there 
to cultivate Indian-corn. They had not been visited by 
a ship for three years, but were well off, the island 
abounding in pigs and poultry, goats and cattle. There 
"was plenty of fish in the surrounding ocean and mul- 
titudes of sea-birds. 



186 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1598. 

Leaving Fernando Noronha on the 26th of July, the 
two ships doubled Cape San Agustin on the Brazilian 
coast, and passed the Abrolhos rocks in 17° S., and 
forty miles from the coast, about which Davis felt some 
anxiety. In celebration of the event, the Dutch com- 
mander indulged in and permitted disorderly festivities 
of which the honest English pilot highly disapproved. 
The Baas chose a master of misrule, who was called the 
" Kaiser," and passed three days in drunken orgies. 
"After dinner the Baas could neither salute his friends 
nor understand the laws of reason, and those that ought 
to have been most respectable were both lawless and 
witless." Having recovered from the effects of their 
drunken bout, a course was shaped for the Cape of 
Good Hope, and on the nth of November the Lion 
and Lioness were anchored in Saldanha Bay, the 
modern Table Bay. The Saldanha Bay of modern geo- 
graphers, on the west coast of Africa, and about fifty 
miles to the northward of the present Cape Town, is a 
misnomer. 

The conduct of the Dutch officers and crew was very 
different from anything that Captain Davis had been 
accustomed to on board the ships he had commanded. 
The discipline was lax, and there was a want of order 
and system. Houtman appears to have been an un- 
fortunate selection, and his intemperate habits did not 
conduce to subordination among his men. The Caffres 
at Table Bay brought oxen and sheep to exchange for 
old iron. Davis observed the appearance and habits of 
these Caffres with care and attention. He describes 
them as a strong and active race, with olive-black skins 
and curly heads ; speaking a language of most peculiar 
sound. An idea of the pronunciation could not be con- 



i6or.] THE DUTCH VOYAGE. 187 

veyed better than in the words of Davis. He says, 
*' In speaking they cluck with the tongue like a brood- 
hen, which clucking and the word are pronounced 
together very strongly."' He understood them to be 
subjects of the King of Monomotapa, a region behind 
the seaboard of Mozambique. 

It was not long before misunderstandings arose 
between the insubordinate Dutch seamen and the 
natives. Having received some rough usage, the Caff res 
departed, and for three days there were fires blazing on 
the surrounding hills. They then came back and began 
bartering their cattle, but they were only watching an 
opportunity for retaliation. They suddenly attacked 
the Europeans, and killed thirteen with their darts at 
close quarters. The Dutchmen fell into a panic, threw 
away their arms, and ran to the shore. Houtman 
prudently remained on board. He sent corslets, mus- 
kets, swords, and pikes to the men on shore, but no 
one to lead them. They remained at their tents with- 
out taking the offensive, and were surrounded by the 
Caff res and their cows. "We were in muster giants 
with great armed bodies," says Davis, *' but in action 
babes with wren's hearts." Then the English pilot, 
with his mate Hopkins, came forward, and undertook to 
marshal them and lead them against the enemy. But 
although some consented, several ran to the pottage-pot, 
swearing it was dinner-time, and at night they all went 
on board. The great mastiff belonging to the Baas 
was left behind. " He by no means would come to us, 
for I think he was ashamed of our company." 

The year was coming to a close before the expedition 
rounded the Cape, and on the 3rd of February 1599 the 
two ships anchored in the Bay of St. Augustine, on the 



188 ^ LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1598. 

south-west coast of Madagascar. Houtman had visited 
this place during his first voyage, and had cruelly ill- 
treated the natives. The consequence was that they all 
fled into the interior, and would have no intercourse 
with the strangers. No supplies could be obtained, and 
after a fortnight the Dutchmen made sail for the Comoro 
Islands, naming the place "Hungry Bay." In the 
Comoro group they were more fortunate, and obtained 
fresh provisions at the island of Mayotta, where they 
anchored. All the care of Davis was required for the 
eastern navigation from the Seychelles. After visiting 
Mayotta and Johanna in the Comoro group, he navi- 
gated the ships past the Amirante shoals to the Mal- 
dives, where they again anchored, and obtained a native 
pilot who took them through the difficult channel 
betv/een the coral islands. Thence the voyage was con- 
tinued to Sumatra, and on the 21st of June the ships 
were anchored in the Bay of Achen. 

During the whole voyage Davis made hydrographical 
notes with great diligence, observed the appearance, 
manners, and customs of the natives; and collected in- 
formation respecting tlie trade of each place, both as 
regards the exports and the kiad of goods that are 
most in demand. While his skill as a pilot and 
navigator was most acceptable to his employers, he was 
acquiring knowledge and experience which would be 
useful to his own country. 

Achen, the most northern kingdom in the island of 
Sumatra, has great historical interest, owing to its 
having been so much frequented by the early Dutch 
and English voyagers. The name is properly Acheh ; 
and Colonel Yule suggests that we got our form of the 
word from the Arabs. The King of Achen at that time 



i6oi.] THE DUTCH VOYAGE. 189 

was a usurper named Allah-u-din Shah, who had mur- 
dered the former king, Mansur Shah, and his family 
in 1585. He is said to have been originally a fisher- 
man, whose courage and prudence raised him to the 
position of commander of the forces, and he eventually 
became King of Achen. He sent his officers on board 
the Lion and Lioness to measure their length and 
breadth, and take the number of men and guns. Two 
men were sent back with them to take presents on 
shore, and they returned with news that there would 
be peace and plenty of trade. In the harbour there 
were three small vessels from Arabia, one from Pegu, 
and a Portuguese named Dom Alfonso Yicente, who had 
come from Malacca with four vessels, with the object 
of thwarting the Dutch in their efforts to trade. The 
Baas Houtman was, however, received by the King in 
a friendly manner, and presented with a kris of honour. 
He came back with a cargo of pepper in his boat, and 
boasted loudly of his influence with the King. The 
Dutch merchants then landed with their goods, and the 
King proposed that if Houtman would help him in his 
war against Johore, he would give him a lading of 
pepper in return. 

Houtman had shown a foolish jealousy of the English- 
men who were serving in his ship. The native officers 
had reported to the King that there were some men ou 
board who appeared to be different from the others. 
The King rightly conjectured that they must be English, 
and asked Houtman if he had any Englishmen on board. 
At first the Baas declared that there were none, but on 
being hard pressed, he admitted that the chief pilot and 
a few others were Englishmen who had been brought up 
in Flanders. He would not let Davis or Hopkins go on 



190 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1598. 

shore until the King insisted upon seeing them, and 
then he allowed them to land very reluctantly. On the 
22nd of August Captain Davis had an audience with the 
King, who was very friendly. Davis was robed in a 
dress of honour, and allowed to sit and feast with his 
Majesty, who made him answer numerous questions 
about England and the great Queen, and about her war 
with the Spaniards. In a second interview Davis rode 
to court on an elephant, and he was so fortunate as to 
meet a Chinese merchant who spoke Spanish, a language 
known to Davis, from whom he received much valuable 
information respecting the trade of China. This again 
excited the jealousy of Houtman, who ordered Davis to 
return on board. 

Great preparations were being made for the expedition 
against Johore. The harbour was full of armed 2V'ahus 
and boats. On the ist of September an officer of rank, 
named Abdalla, with a secretary, and a party of soldiers 
armed to the teeth, came on board the ship with pro- 
visions and liquor, and made show of friendship. But 
their conduct excited suspicion in the mind of Davis, 
who advised the crew to fill the tops with stones, secure 
the gratings, and get their arms ready. Houtman was 
very angry at this interference, and ordered his men to 
desist from their hostile preparations; but they refused 
to obey his orders and remained on the defensive. 

There was indeed treachery. The food and liquor 
were drugged, and the intention was to make all the 
Europeans insensible or incapable, and then to seize the 
ships. Abdalla and the secretary had completely de- 
ceived the unfortunate Houtman, who became a helpless 
prisoner without knowing it. They then sent for Davis 
and Hopkins, pressed them to partake of their hospi- 



i6oi.] THE DUTCH VOYAGE. 191 

tality, and used all their art to secure compliance. 
Suddenly these treacherous Malays threw off the mask. 
Houtman was quickly murdered ; but Davis, aided by 
Hopkins and the Treasurer Lefort, secured the approach 
to the poop with great presence of mind, and repulsed 
the savage onslaughts of the enemy. If their defence of 
the poop had failed, the ship would have been lost, as 
the Malays had secured the cabin and the gun-deck. 
Pieter Stockman, the captain, and several others, jumped 
overboard in despair, but eventually got back again. 
The precaution of placing stones in the tops was most 
fortunate, for the Dutch sent volleys among the Malays, 
who were vigorously attacked in front by Davis and his 
little band from the poop. The enemy began to give 
ground, and the gallant pilot came down from the poop 
to follow up his success. As Hopkins jumped down 
after him, he was badly wounded by a Turk who rushed 
out of the cabin, and they both rolled on the deck 
together. Davis turned round quickly and ran the Turk 
through with his rapier, and Stockman, the skipper, who 
had scrambled on board again, thrust a pike down the 
poor wretch's throat. Meanwhile a similar scene of 
treachery had been enacted on board the Lioness. All the 
officers but Frederik Houtman were murdered. The 
Lion then cut her cable, bore down on her consort, and 
recovered her. The Malays fled, jumping overboard 
and swimming away. The King of Achen was on 
the beach watching the event, and when he saw that 
his villainous rase had failed, he caused all the Euro- 
peans who were on shore, except eight, to be mur- 
dered. The Dutch loss amounted to sixty -eight men 
killed, including Captain Stockman, and three boats 
destroyed. The two ships made sail the same day, 



192 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1598. 

and anchored off the town of Pedir, on the north coast 
of Sumatra. 

Frederik de Houtman, the captain of the Lioness, 
although he escaped death, remained a prisoner at Achen 
for two years, during which time he compiled a dic- 
tionary of the Malay language, and took several observa- 
tions of stars in the southern hemisphere, which, with 
his dictionary, were published after his return to Hol- 
land. Three sealed letters were on board the Lion, 
marked A, B, and C, which wet*e to be opened in 
the event of Houtman's death. In A, an officer was 
appointed to succeed who had been killed at Achen. 
B named a Frenchman, Guy Lefort, who had been 
treasurer; and he was accordingly accepted as Baas or 
commander of the expedition. The letter marked C 
was not opened. 

From Pedir the two ships went to Pulo Lotum,^ in the 
territory of Queda, on the west side of the Malacca 
peninsula, where water and fresh provisions were obtained. 
Lefort then resolved to return to Achen, to obtain tidings 
of the men who had been left on shore, and to rescue 
them if possible. Arriving in Achen Bay on the 12th 
of October, the Lion fired some shots at a galley which 
was sent out to oppose her, but no communication 
appears to have been held with the shore, and a few 
days afterwards Lefort shaped a course to Tennasserim, 
and thence to the Nicobar Islands. Here they obtained 
fruit and vegetables, but they were in great want of 
grain and other provisions necessary for a long voyage. 
From the ISTicobars they sailed for Ceylon, and on the 
passage were so fortunate as to meet a vessel from 
Negapatam in India, laden with rice. Trade was 
1 This is probably a misprint. It may be Pulo Buton. 



l6oi.] THE DUTCH VOYAGE. 193 

opened, the greater part of the cargo of rice heing sold 
to the Dutchmen, and regularly paid for. But the Lion 
and Lioness were never able to reach Ceylon, and in 
January 1600 it was resolved to shape a course home- 
wards. 

The two ships doubled the Cape of Good Hope on the 
26th of March, and reached the island of St, Helena on 
the 13th of April. They got fresh water and fruit, but 
at sunset on the second day of their stay a large Spanish 
caravel arrived, and anchored a musket-shot to wind- 
ward of the Dutchmen. Her guns were dismounted, so 
the Lion and Lioness kept up a steady fire on her during 
the first part of the night without a single shot being 
returned. By midnight the Spaniards had mounted 
some of their guns, and began to use them with effect, 
hitting the Lion several times and killing two men. 
Lefort then thought it prudent to retreat, and the two 
^ips sailed from St. Helena on the i6th of April, and 
proceeded to Ascension, with many sick men on board. 
But there they were again disappointed, finding nothing 
but a fruitless green rock, without wood or water. Then 
Davis advised that a course should be shaped for Fernanda 
Noronha, the lonely island in Mid- Atlantic, which they 
had visited during the voyage out, and where they knew 
that fresh provisions could be obtained. Eefreshment 
was thus secured for the sick and enfeebled crew before 
commencing the long voyage northwards, and on the 
29th of July 1600 the second Dutch voyage to the East 
Indies was concluded, the two ships arriving safely 
at Middelburg. 

There is no narrative of this voyage in Dutch, and 
the only one extant is that written by John Davis as 
an enclosure to a letter addressed to the Earl of Essex. 

N 



194 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1598-1601. 

Davis describes the kingdom of Achen, its inhabi- 
tants and commodities, besides narrating the events 
of the voyage. He himself was a heavy loser, for all 
his European goods were seized before he had received 
any merchandise in exchange for them. A vein of 
pleasant humour runs through his narrative, and he 
even jokes over his own losses. " I do most grieve over 
the losses of poor John Davis," he says, " for I may 
conclude that although India did not receive me very 
rich, yet she hath sent me away reasonable poor." 

The letter from Davis to the Earl of Essex is dated 
at Middelburg on the ist of August 1600. The object 
of his voyage is here stated to have been " the discovery 
of these eastern parts of the world, to the service of Her 
Majesty and the good of our country." The employ- 
ment of such a man as Davis was a benefit to both 
countries ; and there is evidence that the Dutch mer- 
chants fully appreciated his services. When W. Walker 
translated the Dutch voyage of Jacob Neck in 1601, he 
sent a covering letter to Sir Thomas Smith, the Governor 
of the East India Company, in which he wrote : — " The 
Dutch had special assistance in their late navigations 
by the means of Master John Davis and other skilful 
pilots of our nation ; and in return the Dutch do in 
ample manner requite us, acquainting us with their 
voyages, discoveries, and dangers, both outward and 
homeward." 

Davis returned exactly at the right moment. The 
English East India Company was fitting out its first 
fleet, and the services of the illustrious pilot would be 
needed by his own countrymen. 



CHAPTER XL 

THE FIRST VOYAGE OF THE EAST INDIA 
COMPANY. 

Two important events at the close of the great 
Queen's life were among the most momentous in her 
reign as they affected future history — namely, the 
foundation of the East India Company and her noble 
reply to the Commons on the question of monopolies. 
Several circumstances had conduced to a determination 
on the part of the leading merchants of London to 
undertake commercial voyages to India by way of the 
Cape of Good Hope. The court of the Emperor Akbar 
at Agra had been reached by Halph Fitch and two 
companions, travelling by land, in 1585; and Fitch, 
after visiting Bengal, returned and wrote an interesting 
narrative, which was published in Hakluyt's Collection. 
In 1599 Dr. Thorne, who had long resided at Seville, 
sent home a full report on the advantages of a trade 
with India ; but the most direct information was de- 
rived from Captain James Lancaster. This admirable 
seaman was a native of Basingstoke, and in his earjy 
years he had been in Portugal in the capacity of a 
soldier, and afterwards of a merchant. In 1591 he 
sailed on his first voyage to India as rear-admiral of 
the Edward Bonaventurej in a fleet of three ships com- 

195 



196 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [i6or. 

manded by Captain Raymond, an old servant of Lord 
Howard of Effingham, who is mentioned with com- 
mendation by John Davis in his preface to the " Sea- 
man's Secrets." Raymond's ship was lost with all 
hands off the Cape, but Lancaster was more fortu- 
nate. His vessel was the first commanded by an 
Englishman to round the Cape and visit the Eastern 
islands, and Lancaster brought back much valuable in- 
formation, although he lost his ship in the West Indies, 
and went through many adventures before he reached 
England again in 1594. In the following year he com- 
manded a fleet of thre-* ships fitted out by the merchants 
of London, with which he made a successful attack on 
the town of Pernambuco in Brazil. 

From these various sources the merchant-princes of 
London collected information sufiacient to justify the 
formation of a company. The life and soul of English 
commercial enterprise at this time was Sir Thomas 
Smith. This enlightened and liberal merchant in- 
herited an estate called Brooke Place in the Kentish 
parish of Sutton-at-Hone from his father, as well as 
considerable wealth, which he largely increased. He 
built a house at Brooke Place, while his town-houses 
in Philpot Lane and in Gracechurch Street were the 
centres of hospitality. It was his great merit to have 
encouraged maritime enterprise and discovery through- 
out a long life, not mainly for the sake of gain, but for 
the honour of his country. He was an active member 
of the Muscovy Company, and may be considered as the 
chief founder of the East India Company. He strove 
to promote the efficiency and welfare of seamen, and 
engaged Dr. Hood to deliver lectures on navigation at 
his house in Philpot Lane. 



l6o3.] FIRST VOYAGE OF THE INDIA COMPANY. 197 

Under the auspices of Sir Thomas Smith, the mer- 
chants of London subscribed ;z{^7 2,000 with the object 
of establishing a direct trade with the East Indies, and 
several noblemen joined in the venture. On October 
16, 1599, the Queen's gracious acceptance of the voy- 
age was announced, and preparations were energetically 
pushed forward all through the autumn. On the 10th 
of December Captain James Lancaster was nominated 
general of the fleet, with a commission of martial law 
from the Queen ; and Captain Middleton received the 
appointment of vice-admiral. On December 31, 1599, 
the charter of incorporation of the East India Com- 
pany was granted, being a privilege for fifteen years to 
certain adventurers for the discovery of trade with the 
East Indies, the list of adventurers being appended. 
It is headed by the name of George Clifford, Earl of 
Cumberland, followed by those of 215 knights, aldermen, 
and merchants. Sir Thomas Smith was chosen first 
governor of the Company, and there were twenty- four 
directors, including James Lancaster and John Middle- 
ton, the leaders of the expedition. 

A ship of 600 tons belonging to the Earl of Cumber- 
land was bought for ;^37oo. Her name was the Malice 
Scourge, which was altered to that of the Red Dragon^ 
and she underwent a thorough refit. She was selected 
as the admiral, and Captain Lancaster was on board 
her with a crew of 202 men. Captain Middleton liad 
the Hector of 300 tons with 108 men; the Ascension was 
under William Brand, a ship of 260 tons, with ^2 men, 
and the Susan of 240 tons with 88 men was commanded 
by John Hey wood. There was also a store-ship of 1 3 tons 
called the Guest, to accompany the fleet with additional 
supplies and enable the ships to fill up on the voyage. 



198 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [i6oi. 

Besides the General, which was the title given to 
Lancaster, there was in each ship a master, who was 
responsible for the goods brought on board ; a master's 
mate, who kept the keys of the hatches ; a pilot, who 
navigated the ship from port to port; a purser, a surgeon, 
and a rummager, who superintended the stowage of the 
hold. There were also merchants to establish factories 
in the East and to arrange the commercial afiPairs of the 
Company. Sir Thomas Smith was most careful in issu- 
ing regulations for the health and comfort of the men, 
and he was well seconded by Captain Lancaster, who 
was a seaman of great experience, a good organiser and 
administrator, and a commander who sympathised with 
his men while he maintained strict discipline. The 
ordinary provisions were bread, meal, oatmeal, salt beef, 
pickled beef and pork, peas, beans, salt fish, beer, cider, 
and wine, with smaller allowances of cheese, butter, oil, 
vinegar, honey, and rice. Great attention was paid to 
the quality of the meat, the beasts being purchased alive 
after inspection, and slaughtered in the Company's yard 
at Blackwall. The ordnance provided for the ships 
consisted of cannon, demi-cannon throwing a ball of 36 
pounds, culverins with 20-pound and demi-culverins with 
12-pound balls. There was a large supply of small- 
arms, and each ship was provided with twelve streamers, 
two flags, and one ensign. Neaily the whole sum sub- 
scribed was expended on the ships, and on the mer- 
chandise to be exchanged for spices and other products 
of the East. 

John Davis returned from his Dutch voyage when 
the preparations for the English expedition were well 
advanced and all the captains appointed. But Sir 
Thomas Smith was anxious to secure his valuable ser- 



i6o3.] FIEST VOYAGE OF THE INDIA COMPANY. 199 

vices, and he was nominated chief pilot of the fleet, to 
embark on board the Iked Dragon. His remuneration 
was to be according to results, and he received a " bill 
of adventure " upon the gains of the voyage. He was 
to receive £s^^ ^^ ^^® "voyage yielded two for one, ;^iooo 
if three for one, and ^2000 if five for one. The know- 
ledge acquired by Davis while serving with the Dutch 
was a very useful guide to the Directors in selecting 




THE RED DRAGON. 



their merchandise for the Eastern markets, and his recent 
navigation of the Indian Ocean enabled him to furnish 
most valuable advice. 

On the 13th of February 1601 the expedition sailed 
from Woolwich for the Downs, the General having been 
supplied with letters from the Queen to the King of 
Achen and other Eastern potentates, and with rich gifts 
for them from the Company. The ships were detained 
by westerly winds, and it was Easter Day before they 



200 LIIi^E OF JOPIN DAVIS. [1601. 

arrived in Tor Bay harbour. At length Davis was able 
to visit his home, and to arrange about the care of 
his children daring his long absence. The faithless wife 
appears to have been dead, and a lady named Judith 
Eavard appears upon the scene, who kept house at 
Sandrrdge and attended to the education of the mother- 
less children. A dark shadow now rested upon the once 
happy home. Davis was a struggling man, striving to 
retrieve his fortunes. Unequalled as a navigator and 
pilot, with almost every qualification for high command, 
famous as a discoverer even in his own generation, he 
had not been fortunate. His home was darkened by 
sorrow, and his ventures had been uniformly unlucky 
since his ill-starred engagement with Cavendish. But 
now his appointment as chief pilot of the first fieet sent 
forth by the East India Company opened a brighter 
prospect and gave ground for renewed hope. 

On the 2nd of April 1601, the wind being fair, the 
fleet sailed from Tor Bay and commenced that memor- 
able voyage which was destined to be the foundation- 
stone of the glorious edifice of British empire in the 
East. After obtaining water at Grand Canary, the 
ships were steered southerly until the region of equatorial 
calms was reached, where they were detained from the 
20th of May to the 12th of June. Then there were light 
breezes, generally from the south, and one day a sail was 
seen on the horizon. The Dragon immediately went in 
chase, and captured the stranger by two in the same 
afternoon. She was a Portuguese ship laden with wine, 
oil, and grain, and her valuable cargo was a great assist- 
ance to the English. Lancaster divided it equally among 
the four ships. On the 30th of June they crossed the 
equator; and for the third time Davis rounded that 



i6o3.] FIRST VOYAGE OF THE INDIA COMPANY. 201 

Gape San Agustin on the Brazilian coast, which has so 
prominent a place in the history of all the early voyages 
to India. All the stores were taken out of the Guest 
when the fleet was about 1200 miles south of the line, 
her bulwarks were broken down for fuel, and she was 
turned adrift. It was the 9th of September before the 
welcome refuge of Table Bay was reached, and life- 
saving vegetables and fresh meat could be procured for 
the scurvy-stricken crews. 

This dreadful disease, which was so fatal to sailors who 
undertook long voyages in the sixteenth and seventeenth 
centuries, broke out with exceptional virulence among 
the crews of Captain Lancaster's fleet, commencing when 
the men were exposed for weeks to the burning heat of 
the tropics. 

The Di^agon suffered least, for in the other three ships 
nearly all hands were prostrated by scurvy. The weak- 
ness of the men was so great that the merchants were 
obliged to take their turns at the helm, and go aloft to 
lay out on the yards and reef the topsails. The Dragon 
anchored first in Table Bay, and Captain Lancaster sent 
parties of men to the other ships to help them in bring- 
ing-to and getting the boats out. The reason why the 
crew of the Dragon suffered less was that Lancaster 
had taken the precaution of having a supply of lime- 
juice on board. So long as it lasted, he gave three 
spoonfuls to each man every morning; and to this 
specific, combined with closer attention to cleanliness 
and other requisites for health, the comparative exemp- 
tion of the Dragon was due. 

As soon as the ships were at anchor and the boats 
out, the General went on shore to see about arrange- 
ments for obtaining supplies of fresh provisions, and 



202 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1601. 

the Caffres soon made their appearance with their sheep 
and oxen. Davis bad been witness of the consequences 
resulting from the ill-usage of the Caffres by the Dutch 
sailors in the previous voyage. He had warned Lancaster 
of what had taken place, and that able commander took 
special precautions to prevent any misunderstanding with 
the natives. Only a few selected men were allowed to 
come near the market, and no one else was permitted to 
interfere. Then tents were made out of the sails, and all 
the sick were landed. The disease had carried off 105 
men before the ships arrived in Table Bay ; but, with 
the aid of wholesome food and fresh air, the survivors 
rapidly recovered, and when the expedition sailed they 
were as strong and well as when they left England. 

On the 29th of October Captain Lancaster put to sea, 
passing by Robben Island with its seals and penguins, 
and observing the peculiar shape of the Table Mountain. 
The passage northwards was rough and tedious, symptoms 
of scurvy again began to appear, and it was thought 
advisable once more to seek for refreshment in some 
haven. This was found at St. Mary's, a long narrow 
island off the east coast of Madagascar, lying parallel 
to the shore, and about four miles from it. Here the 
ships were anchored on the i8th of December, and a 
good supply of oranges and lemons was obtained for the 
sick. Thence they moved to the Bay of Anton gil in 
Madagascar, where Lancaster opened a market for 
traffic with the natives, under the same carefully thought- 
out rules as he established in Table Bay, which were 
strictly enforced. There was no misunderstanding of 
any kind, and the English bought 15 tons of rice, 40 
bushels of beans, many fowls, 8 oxen, and a quantity 
of oranges, lemons, and bananas. They also put a 



i6o3.] FIEST VOYAGE OF THE INDIA COMPANY. 203 

pinnace together, which had been brought out in pieces. 
There was, however, a heavy list of deaths from sick- 
ness, including the chaplain, surgeon, master's mate, 
and ten men of the Dragon, and the master and two 
men of the Hector. An unfortunate accident also hap- 
pened at the funeral of the master's mate. The captain 
of the Ascension was going on shore to attend it, when 
the gunner fired the usual salute from the Dragon. 
By a sad mischance the guns had been loaded with 
shot. The Ascension^ s boat was struck, and the cap- 
tain and boatswain were both killed, meeting their 
own deaths on their way to attend the funeral of a 
comrade. 

The fleet left the Bay of Antongil on the 6th of 
March 1602, and commenced the intricate navigation 
to India, among the Coral Islands. Here the scientific 
knowledge and experience of John Davis were invalu- 
able. Steering northwards, he fell in with the low, 
sandy island of Boquerez on the tenth day, a danger 
the existence of which is considered doubtful in modern 
times. But our early voyagers could feel no doubt, for 
they saw its groves of coco-nut trees, and there came to 
them such a pleasant smell from the land that they were 
reminded of a garden of flowers. On the 1 3th they 
came upon ledges of rocks, with deep water close to them, 
and other low islands in sight. Davis, with clear head 
and vigilant eye, was threading his way through the 
Chagos archipelago, with rocks and hidden dangers in 
all directions. The pinnace was constantly kept ahead 
sounding, and, thanks to the watchful care of the pilot, 
the perils of this intricate navigation were overcome. 
On the 9th of May the 'four ships were safely anchored 
off the Nicobar Islands, where the crews were refreshed 



204 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [i6or. 

for ten days, the guns mounted, and all things got in 
readiness for defence in case of need. 

On the sands of the Nicobar Islands a curious growth 
was observed. The narrative describes it as a small 
twig growing up to a young tree. But when they tried 
to pull it up it sank down into the ground and disap- 
peared, unless it was held very tight. When plucked 
up, the root proved to be a great worm. As the tree 
grows the worm diminishes, and when the worm is 
wholly turned into a tree, the tree becomes rooted in 
the ground. The voyagers looked upon this transfor- 
mation as one of the strangest wonders they had seen, 
and they gathered many of the twigs to take home. 
They are, in reality, coralliferous polyps {Virgularia 
mirahilis)^ which protrude from their holes as the tide 
rises, and disappear almost completely when touched, 
unless they are very firmly clutched. The leaves on 
them are supposed to be seaweed or fungus parasites. 
The part projecting above the surface does branch out 
like a small tree, and they vary in colour, length, 
and shape. When pulled up they have a large fleshy 
root, which is really the intestines of the animal, 
and not a separate worm. But on the whole the 
description of these curious creatures is correct, and 
shows what careful observers were John Davis and his 
companions. 

On the 5 th of June the English fleet cast anchor in the 
Bay of Achen, where a number of vessels from! various 
ports of India were lying. Soon a boat came alongside 
with Frederik de Houtman and another survivor from 
among those who were captured from the Dutch ships in 
1600. They reported that Ala-u-din Shah, the King of 
Achen, would welcome the English traders, and that he 



l603.] FIRST VOYAGE OF THE INDIA COMPANY. 205 

had heard much of the Queen of England, who was very 
famous in those parts, owing to her victories over the 
Spaniards. Captain Middleton was then sent on shore, 
to inform the King that the general had a letter for 
him from the great Queen. He was very well received, 
and on the third day Lancaster came on shore with a 
suitable escort. Six elephants were sent to convey the 
envoy to court, the Queen's letter being carried on one, 
while Lancaster mounted another. At the audience the 
Queen's letter was delivered with great ceremony, as 
well as the valuable presents from the Company. The 
most important request in the letter was that licence 
should be given for certain merchants to have a settled 
factory in Achen, and to remain there, learning the 
language and collecting merchandise, until the arrival 
of another fleet. After several conversations between 
Lancaster and the King, two native commissioners 
were appointed to arrange the heads of a treaty with 
the English envoy. Lancaster had brought out with 
him a Jew interpreter, who spoke Arabic fluently, so 
that there was no difficulty in carrying on the negotia- 
tions. A treaty was finally agreed upon, by which free 
trade was granted to the English. 

As soon as the treaty with Achen was ratified, the 
merchants began to collect pepper for the return voyage. 
The Su^aji, under Henry Middleton, was sent to Priaman, 
on the west coast of Sumatra, where it was reported that 
there was a better market for pepper and spices than 
at Achen. Meanwhile a Portuguese envoy was busily 
engaged at Achen in fruitless attempts to undermine 
and counteract the influence of Lancaster. Two mer- 
chants were left behind to form a factory, and on the 
iith of September the English ships weighed, and 



206 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1601. 

shaped a course for the Straits of Malacca, where some 
richly-laden prizes were captured. 

Returning to the Bay of Achen in the end of October, 
Captain Lancaster found that the King had faithfully 
observed the terms of the treaty, and that the merchants 
were well satisfied with their treatment. The King 
then delivered his reply to Queen Elizabeth, and a rich 
present to Lancaster. All the pepper and spices collected 
by the merchants were shipped on board the Ascension^ 
leave was taken of the King, and the three ships sailed 
from Achen with the intention of touching at Bantam 
in Java. The Ascension was sent off to England with 
her cargo. The Dragon and Hector proceeded south- 
ward along the coast of Sumatra to Priaman, where the 
Susan was filling up with pepper and cloves. She also 
was despatched to England, while the two larger ships 
remained at Priaman for a few days to refresh the 
crews. Davis found the navigation somewhat difficult 
between Achen and Priaman, and for some time the 
ships were in danger among rocks and islets off the 
coast. Priaman is an open roadstead, sheltered by coral 
islets, forty miles south of the equator, and in those 
days Priaman, and the neighbouiing port of Tiku, were 
the principal marts for pepper in Sumatra. 

Lancaster arrived at Bantam, in Java, on the i6th of 
December, and delivered a letter from Queen Elizabeth, 
with some presents, to the infant king of the place. 
The merchants then landed, and were very successful 
in obtaining full cargoes of pepper. By the loth of 
February 1603 the two ships were fully laden, and ready 
to depart on their return voyage to England. Captain 
Middleton of the Hector died suddenly at Bantam, to 
the great sorrow of rJl the members of the expedition, 



i6o3.] FIRST VOYAGE OF THE INDIA COMPANY. 207 

for he was popular, and had worked hard to secure the 
success of the venture. Lancaster sent the pinnace to 
the Moluccas to settle a factory, and three merchants 
were left on shore at Bantam. He then received a 
letter from the King of Bantam to the Queen, with 
presents, took his leave, and made sail for England on 
the 2oth of February. 

For some days the ships were becalmed in the Strait 
of Sunda, but on the 26th they were clear of all land, 
steering S.W. The voyage was satisfactory until the 
28 th of April 1603, when a furious storm burst upon 
them. They were obliged to scud under bare poles in a 
tremendous sea for two days, but eventually the wind 
became less violent, and they were able to repair damages. 
Another gale was encountered on the 3rd of May, con- 
tinuing all night, the seas breaking with such fury on 
the quarter that they loosened the iron-work of the 
rudder, Next morning the rudder broke clean away 
and sank. The ship broached to, and drifted about 
helplessly, at one time being carried far south among 
sleet and snow, and at others being borne by the current 
into the neighbourhood of the Gape of Good Hope. 
Through all this trying time of peril and anxiety the 
Hector kept close to her consort very loyally. At last 
it was resolved to unstep the mizen-mast and place it 
over the stern, as a substitute for a rudder. But the 
seas were so heavy that the mizen-mast was dashed 
about and shook the stern to such an extent that they 
were glad when they had hauled it back into the ship 
again. The carpenter was then ordered to convert the 
mizen-mast into a rudder, and after much trouble it was 
fixed. This success, however, was of short duration, for 
within a few hours the seas unshipped it again, while 



208 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1601. 

all but two of the rudder-irons were lost. The men 
began to be anxious to abandon the ship and take refuge 
in the Hecfoi', but the General said, "Nay. I despair 
not to save ourselves, the ship and the goods, by one 
means or other, as God shall appoint us." He then 
went down into his cabin and wrote a letter to his 
employers, in which he declared his intention of standing 
by the ship to the last. He delivered it to the Hector, 
and ordered her to part company and make the best 
of her way to England. But the captain of the Hedor 
was too loyal a man to obey such an order. He would 
not leave his consort in her distress, but remained by 
her. 

At length the sea began to be comparatively smooth, 
and the carpenter repaired the damage done to the 
temporary rudder. The Hector sent men to assist, and 
the rudder was hung on the two hooks that were left. 
They were enabled to proceed on their course, and on 
the 1 6th of June they arrived at the island of St. 
Helena. 

The storm-tossed mariners thus reached a haven of 
rest and refreshment. St. Helena afforded fresh water 
and some wild goats, but the latter called for the 
exercise of cunning in procuring them. Lancaster 
appointed four of his best shots to go into the interior 
of the island, with four men attending upon each gun, 
who at once carried the dead goats to a rendezvous. A 
party from the ships was sent daily to the rendezvous 
to bring down the precious day's shooting, and in this 
way a plentiful supply of fresh meat was quickly ob- 
tained. The sick men all recovered, the Dragon's new 
rudder was carefully secured, and the two ships were 
refitted. 



i6o3.] FIEST VOYAGE OF THE INDIA COMPANY. 209 

They sailed from St. Helena on the 5th of July, and 
•crossed the line on their homeward voyage on the 25 th. 
On the 23rd of August they sighted St. Mary's, the 
easternmost island of the Azores, and on the 7th of 
September they had soundings in the channel. The 
return of the expedition, with good ladings of pepper 
and spices on board all the ships, was a splendid success. 
The perils and hardships of the undertaking can scarcely 
be appreciated now any more than the momentous char- 
acter of the enterprise, in the consequences it led to, 
could be fully understood then. Sir Thomas Smith, and 
a few others, may have felt some presentiment of the 
glorious future in their most enthusiastic moments, but 
the great majoiity only saw in the return of the East 
India Company's fleet from its first venture a successful 
voyage which encouraged them to persevere. Lancaster 
was knighted, and. was for many years a worthy director 
of the Company. He had certainly commanded the 
expedition with distinguished ability. 

The second voyage of the East India Company, which 
sailed from Gravesend in March 1604, was commanded 
by Henry Middleton, who had brought home the Susan 
in Lancaster's expedition. He had the same four ships, 
and was almost as successful as his predecessor. Other 
voyages followed year by year, and the sixth, com- 
manded by Sir Henry Middleton, who had been knighted, 
was on a large scale. Middleton's ship, the Trade's 
Increase, of 11 00 tons, was the largest merchant vessel 
ever built in England, and there were two other ships 
which sailed with her in A*pril 16 10. In the eighth 
voyage Captain Saris established an English factory in 
Japan; and from 16 12, when the tenth voyage under 
Captain Best was undertaken, dates the establishment 

o 



210 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1601-3, 

of permanent English factories on the coast of India. 
A regular firman for trade was procured from the 
Great Mogul, and the East India Company secured its 
first footing on the continent of India. From these 
small beginnings the British Empire of India arose, 
and the services of the earliest pioneers, whose work 
was the most hazardous and difficult, should never be 
forgotten. 

To Sir James Lancaster the first place is due, as the 
efficient and courageous leader of the first voyage. But 
John Davis stands second to him alone. In his voyage 
with the Zealanders, Davis collected much needed com- 
mercial information, acquired experience as a pilot and 
navigator of the Indian Ocean, and by his gallantry 
and presence of mind he saved the Lion and all on board 
when treacherously attacked by the Achenese. In his 
capacity of chief pilot to the first voyage of the East 
India Company he brought all the knowledge and 
experience acquired with the Dutch to bear for the 
service of his own country. In seconding Lancaster he 
played no unimportant part. Among the worthies who 
laid the foundations of our Indian Empire, an honour- 
able place is due to the great Arctic navigator and 
discoverer — John Davis. 



CHAPTER XIL 

THE LAST VOYAGE. 

John Davis was at home for one year and three months 
before he sailed on his last voyage. It had been a sad 
home-coming. The great Queen was dead. Adrian 
Gilbert, his more than brother, had also passed away. 
Sir Walter Raleigh, his true and constant friend, had 
fallen on evil days. The learned scholar, the gallant 
sailor, the patriot statesman, the brilliant courtier was 
about to be subjected to years of persecution and im- 
prisonment by the shambling pedant who desecrated the 
throne of Elizabeth. Davis, and the half brothers of 
Green way, were spared the knowledge of Raleigh's suffer- 
ings. They went before him. But it was the sight of 
Raleigh's execution which first kindled the patriotic 
ardour of Eliot, and the cruel death of Eliot gave that 
stern and unswerving resolution to the action of the 
Long Parliament, which led to the erection of a scaffold 
at Whitehall. Retribution, though slow in coming, was 
certain ; and there was no link missing in the chain 
connecting the execution in Palace Yard and the Tower 
dungeons with the scene before the window of the 
Banqueting House. 

Davis only saw the beginning of these things. The 
wretched change in public affairs was visible at once. 

2U 



212 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1603 

At court drunkenness and folly were substituted for 
decency and public spirit. The ship of the State, with 
Elizabeth at the helm, was like Lancaster's Red Dragon, 
orderly, decent, and well-disciplined. The regime of 
James would remind Davis of the lord of misrule and of 
the orgies he saw on board the Lion^ with Houtman in 
command. 

The chief pilot received his due share of the profits of 
the successful voyage, and he still owned the little estate 
at Sand ridge. Few men had seen more service afloat. 
He might well have sought rest and retirement in his 
declining years. But Davis was not a man to take his 
hand from the plough, while there was a furrow left to 
turn. He was destined to die in harness. Like the old 
Boman he felt that he should work to the last : — 

•' Oportet Imperatorem stantem mori," 

Yet there were a few last months of home life in Sand- 
ridge, during which he might set his affairs in order, 
before he set sail on his final voyage. 

At this time he prepared the second edition of his 
*' Seaman's Secrets " for the press, which was published 
in 1607. He became engaged to Judith Havard, but 
the marriage was deferred until his return from the 
next voyage. His boys were growing up. Two months 
before he sailed to return no more, John Davis made his 
will as follows ; — 

" In the name of God Amen. Being nowe bounde 
to the seas for the coaste of China in the Tiger of 
London, and uncertaine of my returne, I doe committ my 
bodye to God's favourable direction and my sowle to his 
everlastinge mercie, and for my worldly goods, whatso- 
ever lands, leases, merchandizes or money, either in my 



l6o5.] THE LAST VOYAGE. 213 

possession or in due commynge unto me, as by speciali- 
ties or otherwise shall appeare, my will is that it shall be 
devided and parted into fower equall parts or porc'ons ; 
that is to say I give and bequeath th' one foureth parte 
thereof to Judith Havard, unto whom I have given my 
faithe in matrimony, to be solempnized at my returne. 
The other foureth parte I give to Gilbert Davis, my 
eldest Sonne. The third foureth parte I give to Arthur 
Davis, my second sonne ; and the last foureth parte to 
Phillip Davis, my thirde youngest sonne now living. 
Soe my will is that my goods be equally divided between 
my three sonnes and Judith Havard, my espowsed love, 
and to be delivered after my death e ys manifestlie 
knowne. But if any of them shall dye before they re- 
ceive their parte, then it shall be equally divided 
betweene those that live. If they all die before it be 
devided, then I give th' one haulf to the poore, and th' 
other haulf to my brother Edward Davis and to his 
children : and soe, commyting my soule to God, I desire 
that this my wyll may be faithfully p' formed, and to 
testifie that this is my deede and desire, I doe hereunto 
sett my hande and seale this 12th of October 1604. By 
me, John Davis." 

The East India Company did not have the advantage 
of the services of Davis during their second voyage. 
It was unfortunate that he did not continue in their 
employment. The great fault in his character was a 
facility of disposition which led him to comply with the 
wishes of friends, or even the requests of mere acquaint- 
ances if strongly urged, and that when the line of 
conduct they proposed was opposed to the interests of 
enterprises, the welfare of which he had most at heart. 
It was this weakness which led him to join the ill-con- 



'214 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1603. 

-ducted expedition of Cavendish. He now left the service 
of the Company, in compliance with the desire of an old 
friend with whom he had probably served in the Island 
Voyage. Sir Edward Michelborne was a seaman of 
some distinction, and he had strong interest at court. 
His friends urged his claims to command the first voyage 
of the East India Company. The Lord Treasurer used 
much persuasion with the Company to accept of his 
employment as principal commander, but the merchants 
announced that they were resolved not to employ any 
gentleman in any place of charge in the voyage, desiring 
" to sort their business with men of their own quality." 
Michelborne's name appears third in the list of sub- 
scribers, but in July 1601 a minute records that Sir 
Edward, with two others, " was disfranchised out of the 
freedom and privileges of this fellowship, and utterly 
disabled from taking any benefit or profit thereby." No 
reason is given for this expulsion. Perhaps the sub- 
scription was not paid. Michelborne became a gentle- 
man pensioner to James I., and in 1604 he began to 
prepare for a voyage to the East Indies on his own 
account. On June 2 5t]i, 1604, King James, regardless 
of the Charter giving exclusive rights to the East India 
Company, granted a license to Sir Edward Michelborne 
to discover and trade with China and Japan, notwith- 
standing any grant or charter to the contrary. 

Michelborne equipped a vessel of 240 tons called the 
Tiger, with a pinnace named the Tigers Whelp, and 
John Davis accepted the appointment of pilot. Purchas 
calls this the second voyage of John Davis into the East 
Indies. It was his second voyage thither in an English 
ship, but his third including the Dutch expedition. 

The Tiger and her whelp set sail from Cowes on the 



i6o5.] THE LAST YOYAGE. 215 

5th of December 1604, and arrived in the insecure 
anchorage of Oratava, on the north-west side of the 
Island of Teneriffe, on the 23rd. Crossing the line on 
the 1 6th of January, Davis shaped a course for Fernando 
Noronha, where he found the number of inhabitants 
reduced to six, and the live stock not so plentiful as 
at the time of his former visit. There were, however, 
plenty of wild gourds and water-melons. They observed 
also trees of Jatroplia gossypifoUa, which is abundant 
on the island, and which they called " rotten trees," 
because when they were there it was the dry season 
and the trees were devoid of leaves. A climbing 
asclepiad, with large pods full of a silky fibre, was seen 
growing on the leafless Jatroplias, just as Mr. Moseley 
observed them during the visit of H.M.S. Challenge)' 
270 years afterwards. A very pleasant sight must this 
bright vegetation have been to men who had been several 
weeks at sea, and they gladly landed to fill their water- 
casks and get in supplies of fresh provisions. 

During the voyage from Fernando Noronha to the 
Cape, the Tiger sighted Ascension, and on the 3rd of April 
a small island was seen which Davis reported as Dassen, 
or Coney Island, about eight leagues south of the present 
Saldanha Bay. Sir Edward Michelborne went in a boat 
to land on it. In his absence the ship was driven out to 
sea by a gale of wind, and the General did not get on 
board again for two days. On the 8th, the anchor was 
let go in Table Bay. Here, as usual, there were abun- 
dant supplies of fresh beef and mutton, and the shoot- 
ing parties got great quantities of birds. Their stay of 
three weeks quite revived the spirits of the men, and 
when they sailed, on the 3rd of May, they were in as 
good health as at the time of their departure from 



216 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1603. 

England. Rounding the Cape of Good Hope on the 7th, 
they encountered a furious gale of wind on the 9th, which 
lasted for two days with rain and thunder. In the full 
fury of the storm, flickering flames, like candles, appeared 
on the Tigefs mast-heads. Spanish mariners would 
have believed that these St. Elmo lights were indications 
of the presence of their guardian saint. Protestant 
Englishmen could not believe a Popish fable. Never- 
theless the fact remained that the weather improved 
from that time, and that the sea went down. 

Stretching boldly across the Indian Ocean, the able 
pilot of the Tiger made the northernmost island of the 
Chagos Archipelago, and a supply of coco -nuts was 
obtained. But Michelborne altered his plans. Diego 
Garcia, at the southern end of the group, was sighted, 
the line was again crossed, and on the 26th of July the 
ship was near the coast of Sumatra. She was anchored 
off the little island of Batu, and the crew set to work to 
put together a small shallop which had been brought 
out from. England in pieces. This addition to Michel- 
borne's force was named the Bat, in honour of the 
flying squirrels which were found hanging from the 
trees, on the well-wooded island. From thence the 
Tiger proceeded to Priaman, the pepper mart on the 
west coast of Sumatra, anchoring there on the 13th of 
August. The Tigers Whelp had been separated from her 
consort during the gale of wind off the Cape of Good 
Hope ; she had made the voyage alone and had reached 
Priaman, where she was once more united with the 
Tiger, amidst great rejoicings. The captain of the 
whelp came out in his boat, when her dam was still 
half a league from the anchorage, and Michelborne 
welcomed him with a peal of great ordnance. 



i6o5.] THE LAST VOYAGE. 217 

At Priaman it was found that the King of Achen had 
been dethroned by his sous, that there was a civil war 
between the brothers, and that little trade could be 
done. Michelborne therefore resolved to proceed south- 
wards to Bantam, On the 23rd of October the Tiger 
and her whelp anchoi^d off an inhabited island called 
Pulo Marra, in the Straits of Sunda, near the southern 
extremity of Sumatra, where plentiful supplies of fresh 
provisions were obtained. While he was on the west 
coast of Sumatra, Davis devoted his attention to the 
execution of careful survej^s, and to the preparation of 
sailing directions for the use of his countrymen. In 
this last year of his life he was as zealous and diligent 
as in the days of his prime. One result of his merito- 
rious labours is preserved in the Sloane collection of 
manuscripts at the British Museum. It consists of 
minute and carefully prepared sailing directions from 
Achen to the pepper marts of Priaman and Tiku ; with 
latitude and variation of the compass for each port, 
descriptions of watering-places, and some account of the 
trade at various points along the west coast of Sumatra. 
He gives excellent advice to keep the lead going when 
near the land, and notes the bearings of conspicuous 
marks from the different anchorages. It is touching to 
note how, in seeking for a comparison, his thoughts 
revert to home scenes. Thus, in describing a gutt or 
break in a line of high land, he compares it to the 
entrance of Dartmouth, that beloved haven on which 
his eyes were never destined to rest again. 

Leaving Pulo Marra, the Tiger proceeded to Bantam, 
where Michelborne communicated with the factors of 
the East India Company residing there. He then 
slmped a course to Patani, the most northern state 



218 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1603. 

on the eastern side of the Malay Peninsula. For a 
long time they beat up against a northerly wind ; and, 
having captured a junk belonging to Pahang, they took 
some rice out of her, for which Sir Edward Michelborne 
paid in full, and engaged the services of a native who 
was acquainted with the pilotage of the Patani coast. 
Davis then shaped a course for Pulo Tioman, the largest 
of a chain of islands on the east coast of the Malay 
Peninsula. Still baffled by the northerly winds which 
prevail on this coast in November, they were for many 
days off Pahang, a native state which extends for eighty 
miles along the coast, bounded on the south by Johore, 
and on the north by Tringano. This eastern coast is 
very beautiful, with mountains inland rising to a height 
of 3000 feet above the sea. 

Then the end came. As the Tiger was beating against 
a head wind on the Pahang coast, she fell in with a 
junk, on the 24th of December. It was full of Japanese 
who had been committing piracies along the coasts of 
China and Cambodia. Their pilot being dead, they 
had wrecked their ship on a shoal off the coast of 
Borneo. Taking to their boats they boarded a junk 
belonging to Patani, massacred the crew, and took 
possession. She was laden with rice, and having taken 
their arms out of the wreck, they shaped a course for 
Japan. But their ignorance, and the contrary winds, 
were the causes for their being so far out of their 
reckoning ; and so, by an evil chance, the Tiger fell in 
with this shipload of Japanese ruffians off the coast 
of Paha,ng. There were ninety men crowded into a 
junk of seventy tons. They at once submitted to the 
orders of Sir Edward Michelborne, with much show of 
humility, and told their story with apparent frankness. 



i6o5 ] THE LAST VOYAGE. 219 

The current had drifted them to the south, and the 
Tiger anchored under a small island to the east of 
Singapore, one of a cluster at the eastern extremity of 
the Strait of Malacca, with the junk nearly alongside. 
Michelborne entertained the ruffians and used them 
well, in the expectation of obtaining valuable informa- 
tion respecting the trade routes to China. The Japanese, 
on the other hand, being hopeless of ever reaching their 
own country in the leaky junk, had secretly resolved to 
seize the Tiger or lose their lives in the attempt. 

Meanwhile there were mutual courtesies and enter- 
tainments passing between the English and Japanese, 
sometimes there being as many as twenty-five or twenty- 
six of the pirates on board the Tiger at one time. For 
some reason which is not explained, probably owing to 
a rumour of concealed treasure, Michelborne ordered the 
cargo of rice to be searched, and while this work was 
being done, he desired Captain Davis to disarm the 
Japanese and send them before the mast. Davis, being 
deceived by the pretended humility of the desperadoes, 
did not take away their weapons, although Michel- 
borne appears to have sent two messages to him on the 
subject. This went on all day, the English crew search- 
ing in the rice, and the Japanese looking on, some 
before the mast in the junk, and others on board the 
Tiger. While they were passing the time in apparent 
idleness, the villains were agreeing upon a plan of action. 
At a preconcerted signal, they were suddenly to attack 
the English in both ships. 

Towards sunset the storm burst. Taking the captors 
completely by surprise, the Japanese killed or drove 
overboard all the Englishmen that were in the junk. A 
certain number of Japanese had been confined in the 



220 



LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. 



[1601 



Tiger's cabin during the search. On the signal being 
given, they rushed out and met Captain Davis coming 







^?3 




SUMATRA 

andtte 

STRA ITS OP MALA CCA 

Scale 1: 25.000,000 

_i — L_j — 1 — < — 1 II I .1 loo Ledgiut 






out of the gun-room. They pulled him inside the cabin, 
gave him six or seven mortal wounds, and then thrust 
his body out into the waist. He was dead before he 



i6oS.l THE LAST VOYAGE. ' 221 

reached the deck. Michelborne was on the poop. He 
rallied the boatswain, carpenter, and a few men round 
him, and leapt into the waist, where the pirates were 
kept at bay. They fought with desperate tenacity, dis- 
puting the ground inch by inch, as they were gradually 
driven from the waist back into the cabin. Here they 
held out for upwards of four hours, making several 
attempts to set the ship on fire. At last Michelborne 
got two demi-culverins to bear on the cabin bulk-head, 
loaded them with cross-bars, bullets, and case shot, and 
let fly into the midst of the enemy, blowing the survivors 
to pieces. Not one asked for life. All fought to the 
bitter end. Thus did John Davis close his eventful 
life, on the 27th of December 1605. He found a watery 
grave at the eastern end of the Strait of Malacca, within 
sight of the lofty Island of Bintang. 

Michelborne, after the loss of his illustrious pilot, 
hesitated for some time, but eventually resolved to 
return home, and made sail on the 5th of February 
1606. On the 17th of April he reached St. Helena and 
refreshed his crew, and on the 27th of June he arrived 
at Milford Haven. Finally the Tiger came to an anchor 
at Portsmouth on the 9th of July, where the crew was 
dismissed, having been a year and a half on the voyage. 
They brought home the sad news of the death of John 
Davis— the discoverer, surveyor, and true-hearted sailor ; 
one bright star out of many in the glorious Elizabethan 
constellation. He had just reached his fifty-sixth year. 

Of the four boys who had been companions on the 
banks of the Dart, and had together listened to the 
yams of sailors on Dartmouth quay, three had run their 
course and passed away. Humphrey Gilbert, in the 
prime of life, had sunk beneath the Atlantic waves, 



222 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1603. 

with words \ipon Lis lips that have become immortal. 
The more peaceful, though not less useful, career of 
Adrian Gilbert ended quietly at home. John Davis, 
after a long series of valuable services to his country 
and to science, met with a violent death outside the 
Straits of Malacca. Walter Raleigh was destined to 
outlive them all, and to endure a long drawn-out 
martyrdom before his brilliant career was closed in 
Palace Yard. He was not found wanting when tried 
in the furnace of adversity. Its fruit was the " History 
of the World." 

Davis was distinguished in every branch of a sailor's 
profession. After losing sight of him at the home of 
his boyhood, when he went to sea, we first encounter 
him again in the companionship of Adrian Gilbert, 
planning the details of an important expedition of 
discovery. His conduct of the three successive Arctic 
expeditions was able and judicious. He was a thorough 
seaman, a scientific observer, with attainments which 
were unusual in those days, and an admirable organiser. 
Above all, he had that love of enterprise, that fervent 
enthusiasm without which mere attainments cannot 
secure success. He made the subject of a North- West 
Passage his own, and he never lost sight of it during a 
long life of hard and almost constant service. As a 
scientific explorer and discoverer he was certainly the 
first man of his age and country. 

The practically useful labours of John Davis were 
valuable to his own and to succeeding generations. His 
charts of the English Channel and the Scilly Islands, 
of the Arctic coasts, and of Magellan's Straits ; and his 
sailing directions, especially for the Eastern Seas, are 
a few among the numerous results of his observations. 



1605.1 THE LAST VOYAGE. 223 

His opportunities were great, lie was always diligently 
on the look-out to record anything that could be useful 
to his countrymen, and the skill acquired by years of 
practice rendered the work of his hands as accurate 
as it was justly prized. He did not work for fame or 
for money, but for the love he felt for his brother 
sailors. It was this love that conquered difficulties, and 
inspired him to work unceasingly. From the same 
source came the " Seaman's Secrets," and the invention 
of the back-staff. " It was not in respect of his pains 
but of his love" that he desired to be judged. No 
nobler motive ever influenced a man in the execution of 
difficult and laborious work. 

For war services Davis had no special aptitude ; yet 
he was prompt and ready, when opportunities offered, 
to fight for his Queen and country. In the repulse of 
the Spanish Armada, he commanded a tender, and acted 
as pilot to the Lord AdmiraL In the campaign with 
the Earl of Cumberland at the Azores, he was active 
and enterprising. He served in the brilliant attack on 
Cadiz ; and in the arduous cruise among the Azores in 
1597. His personal gallantry and presence of mind 
saved the Lion, when treacherously attacked by the 
Malays. But no part of his fame rests on his war 
services. He was essentially a man of peace. It was 
by the calm and collected way in which he faced, and 
encouraged others to face, the most terrible hardships 
and sufferings ; by his ever ready presence of mind and 
consummate seamanship in moments of danger, that he 
showed the stuff he was made of. The enemies against 
which he made war were the ice of the frigid zone, the 
storms of the far south, the pestilences of the tropics, 
and the evil designs of false companions. It was the 



2-24 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1603. 

mission of his life to study the forces of nature, and to 
mould and direct them, so far as the knowledge of his 
times rendered it possible, for the good of his Queen 
and his countrymen. If, as regards worldly success and 
his own fortunes, the life of Davis was, in some sort, a 
failure, in all that is worth living for, in valuable 
public services well performed, and in the acquisition of 
immortal fame, it was a success. 

Davis was a God-fearing and loyal man from his 
youth upwards. He was a true and constant friend, 
and warmly sympathised with those who served under 
him. Raleigh and Adrian Gilbert never faltered in 
their life-long friendship, and never failed him in his 
need. Mr. Janes, after serving under him in two Arctic 
expeditions, embarked with him for Magellan's Strait, 
solely actuated by the love he bore him. For Davis was 
a genial companion as well as a true friend. He was 
imaginative and enthusiastic, and he had a strong sense 
of humour, as is shown in his narrative of the Dutch 
voyage. He bore the grievous misfortune at home with 
manly fortitude, neither abandoning his duties nor alter- 
ing his mode of life when on shore. He lived on at his 
beloved Sandridge, for the sake of his children. 

The faults in the character of Davis were of a nature 
which made it unlikely that he would be fortunate in 
a worldly sense. Although he was resolute and de- 
termined in facing the elements and in prosecuting his 
designs, he was often lamentably weak when appealed 
to by companions or acquaintances, and in quelling in- 
subordination. He was apt to acquiesce when he should 
have resisted, and to yield rather than oppose. He was 
too good-natured. His disposition was too facile; and 
from this fault most of his misfortunes originated. He 



i6o5.] THE LAST VOYAGE. 225 

preferred expostulation to force at times when force alone 
was needed. 

With all his faults, John Davis, the great discoverer, 
the scientific seaman, the consummate pilot, takes rank 
among the foremost sea- worthies of the glorious reign 
of Queen Elizabeth. 

Much that Davis wrote has been lost. We have his 
letters to Secretary Walsingham and to Master Sanderson 
after his return from the Arctic voyages, his narrative 
of the second, and his log of the third voyage. The 
speeches he made to the master and crew of the Desire 
are given verbatim by Janes. His separate published 
works are the " Seaman's Secrets," with the preface 
addressed to the Lord High Admiral, and the " World's 
Hydrographical Discovery." His narrative of the Dutch 
voyage of Houtman is the only one in existence, and is 
valuable as a specimen of the humorous side of Davis's 
mind. It is accompanied by a covering letter to the 
Earl of Essex. The Saihng Directions for the west 
coast of Sumatra furnish an example of his method in 
preparing the valuable guides for the use of his sea- 
faring countrymen. ISText to his own writings we are 
most indebted to the pen of his devoted friend, John 
Janes, in tracing the life- story of Davis. Two of the 
Arctic narratives and the thrilling tale of adventures 
in Magellan's Strait are from his pen. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE FOLLOWING UP OF THE WORK OF DAVIS. 

I. 

By the ** Furious Overfall." 

Davis, in completing his own discovery of the Strait, 
and its adjacent shores, set up two leading marks 
for future exploration. One pointed west by the 
" Furious Overfall," the other pointed north by " San- 
derson his Hope." Each was followed up by worthy 
successors a few years after the death of the illustrious 
pioneer. Henry Hudson made his way by the "Furious 
Overfall " into Hudson's Bay. William Baffin, passing 
beyond *' Sanderson his Hope," reached and explored 
the great bay which bears his name. The discoveries 
of Hudson and Baffin are the direct consequences of 
the work of Davis, and form the sequel of his life-story. 
A life of Davis would therefore be incomplete unless it 
included an account of the work achieved by those who 
followed up his leading marks. 

When John Davis made his speech on Arctic dis- 
covery to the merchants of London in the house of Mr. 
Thomas Hudson at Mortlake, it is more than possible 
that the nephew of that merchant may have been 
present. Thus we may believe that the two great 

226 





/ 




THE 



NOETH-^ 
1 

Scale 

I. Hakluyt Island 
3. Cape Dudley 1 
5, Mansell Islanc 
7. Salisbury Islan 

r» 

B. Hudson, 161 
B. Baffin, i( 



Hakluyt Island. 

. " pe C 

5. Mansell Island. 6. Nouingnam Island. 
7. Salisbury Island. 8. S-iva^e Islands. 
Tra<ks of Explorers. 
H. Hudson. i6ro. Btl Button. 
B. Baffin, x6i5- 




1607-32.] FOLLOWING UP OF THE WORK. 



227 



discoverers may have been personally known to each 
other. But from that time we entirely lose sight of 
Henry Hudson, until we find him employed by the 
Muscovy Company to discover a shorter route to Cathaye 
by sailing over the North Pole. 

On the 19th of April 1607 eleven men and a boy 
partook of the holy communion at the little church of 
St. Ethelburga, in Bishopsgate Street Within. They 
then returned to the river-side at Batcliffe, and went 




on board the Hopeioell, a little vessel of 80 tons. Ten 
days afterwards Hudson commenced his first adven-. 
turous voyage. His little son Jack shared his cabin, 
William Collins and James Young were the mates, and 
the crew consisted of eight men. On the 13th of June 
he came in sight of the east coast of Greenland. He 
then shaped a north-easterly course until he sighted the 
famous Hakluyt Head of Spitzbergen, but he could find 
no opening whereby he might force his way northwards. 



228 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1607. 

He returned in September, and in the following year 
the Muscovy Company despatched him on a similar 
service. This time he intended to attempt a passage 
between Spitzbergen and Novaya Zemlya. His son 
was again with him as a companion. On reaching the 
edge of the ice he carefully examined it for an opening, 
but again without success, and he returned to Gravesend 
iu August 1608. These voyages had useful scientific 
as well as commercial results. Hudson was the first 
sea-captain who took observations for the dip of the 
magnetic needle, and his voyages led directly to the 
establishment of a lucrative whale fishery in the Spitz- 
bergen seas. Hudson's third voyage was undertaken 
from Amsterdam, in a yacht called the Half Iloon, with 
a crew composed half of Dutch and half of Englishmen. 
On this occasion he attempted discoveries on the coast 
of Noi-th America. Crossing the Atlantic in the spring 
of 1609, he explored the Bay of Chesapeake, rounded 
Sandy Hook, discovered the river which bears his name, 
and sighted the Catskill Mountains. Hudson landed 
on the Island of Manhattan, the site of New York, and 
returned to England in November, anchoring in Dart- 
mouth Harbour. He there received orders not to go 
back to Holland, but remain and give his services to 
his own country. 

Sir Thomas Smith, with two other eminent patrons of 
discovery, had resolved to fit out another expedition for 
the discovery of a North-West Passage. The previous 
three voyages of Hudson had been his preparation for 
following the beacon lighted by Davis, and completing 
the examination of the route, the way to which was 
pointed out by the great navigator — the way by the 
"Eurious Overfall." The Discovery, of 55 tons, was 



1632.] FOLLOWING UP OF THE WOEK. 229 

provided, and Hudson received the command. Once 
more his young son Jack, who had reached the age of 
seventeen years, was his companion. His mate was 
Robert Juet, a treacherous old man, who had served 
with Hudson in his second and third voyages. Thomas 
Woodhouse, a mathematical student; Habakkuk Prickett, 
a servant of Sir Dudley Digges; Robert Bylot, an 
experienced old sailor; Arnold Ludlow, and Michayl 
Pierce, were the leading men on board. Henry Green, 
a good-for-nothing young spendthrift, befiiended by 
Hudson because he wrote a good hand, was taken on 
board at the last moment. Sailing from Greenhithe on 
the 22nd of April 16 10, the Discovery made a prosperous 
voyage to Iceland, and thence across the Atlantic. In 
June, Hudson navigated his ship past the " Furious 
Overfall," and down the strait which bears his name and 
leads to the great bay or inland sea, the Mediterranean 
of America, as it has been called, which was ever after- 
wards to be known as Hudson's Bay. Hudson sailed 
through the strait, with little or no obstruction from ice, 
until the entrance to the bay was reached. The island on 
the south side of the entrance was named Cape Digges, 
and it was observed that myriads of birds were breeding 
there. Hudson's own journal unfortunately comes to 
an end on reaching Cape Digges. The story is continued 
by Habakkuk Prickett, whose narrative is open to some 
suspicion, and whose account is confused and unsatis- 
factory. Hudson's journal ends on the 3rd of August, 
and during the three following months it is not at all 
clear what he was doing, and what course he took. But 
on the ist of November the Discovery was in a bay at 
the extreme south of Hudson's Bay, now called James 
Bay. She was frozen in and compelled to winter there. 



230 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1607. 

A spirit of mutiny and discontent began to show itself 
during the long and dreary nights, which was increased 
by privation and hardship, and fostered by two or three 
designing villains. Hudson had felt obliged to super- 
sede his old shipmate Juet in his rating of mate, and to 
appoint Robert Bylot in his place, owing to some mis- 
conduct. Henry Green was an unprincipled scoundrel, 
whose enmity against his benefactor arose from the 
refusal of some trifle for which he had asked. He 
formed a conspiracy with the boatswain, named William 
Wilson, and three men, named John Thomas, Michael 
Pierce, and Andrew Moter. They watched their oppor- 
tunity. The provisions had run very low, but Hudson 
hoped to replenish them and to obtain a sufficient 
supply for the return voyage by salting down birds at 
Cape Digges. On the i8th of June 161 1 the Discovery 
broke out of her winter quarters, and a course was 
shaped for the entrance of Hudson's Strait. 

The mutineers thought that there would not be suffi- 
cient food to enable them to reach England, and they 
conceived the diabolical scheme of turning the sick and 
weak adrift in order to reduce the number of mouths. 
As they knew that Hudson would never consent to this 
villainy, and as they hated their commander because he 
had enforced discipline and had punished two or more 
of them, they included him and his son in the number 
of their intended victims, as well as all who remained 
loyal. Habakkuk Prickett and five others were in bed 
with scurvy when the ship broke out of the ice, and a 
course was shaped northwards for Cape Digges. 

Prickett tells the story of what took place. He says 
that Green and Wilson came to his bunk after the ship 
had been three days at sea, and divulged their plot to 



1632.] FOLLOwma UP of the work. 231 

him, assuring him that the course they proposed to 
take was unavoidable, because there were only fourteen 
days' provisions left in the ship. He declares that ho 
entreated them to desist, at least for a few days, and 
that he appealed to the old scoundrel Juet, the disrated 
mate, but in vain. Prickett was probably spared be- 
cause he was a servant of Sir Dudley Digges, one of 
the owners. The conspirators trusted that he would 
give a plausible account of the affair on his return 
home. He never attempted to warn the captain of his 
danger, and he was evidently a time-serving rascal, upon 
whom no reliance could be placed. 

The day was fixed, and Prickett tell us that the 
villains passed the greater part of the previous night 
in whispered talk. At that time of the year, the night 
was as light as the day. In the morning they stood 
round the cabin door, waiting for the captain to come 
out. Hudson was entirely without suspicion. He got 
up as usual, and on stepping on to the deck he was 
seized by Thomas and Bennet the cook, while Wilson, 
the boatswain, tied his hands behind his back. The un- 
fortunate captain must have struggled and called for 
help, for the carpenter and two other loyal men ran to 
his assistance. They were overpowered by the mutineers, 
who got possession of the ship. The shallop was then 
hauled up alongside. The sick men, including Mr. 
Woodhouse the mathematician, were pulled out of their 
berths and forced into the boat. Hudson, as a last 
hope, as soon as he saw what was intended, called to 
Prickett to remonstrate with the mutineers. But the 
time-server kept close in his cabin, and said not a word. 
The carpenter would have been allowed to remain, but 
he declared that he would rather die with true men than 



2a2 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1607. 

live as the associate of cowards. He, and the two other 
loyal men, were forced into the boat with the four sick. 
Then young Jack Hudson, who had been his father's 
companion in all his voyages, and was now in his 
eighteenth year, was taken out of the cabin and driven 
into the boat. Hudson followed. The shallop was cast 
adrift, with nine men crowded into her, one fowling- 
piece, some powder and shot, an iron pot, and a little 
meal. 

The ship stood clear of the ice, and then hove to, 
while the murderers ransacked the captain's cabin. 
This aroused a hope in the minds of the forlorn people 
in the boat that the villains had relented. They pulled 
with all their might, and soon came close to the 
ship again. But they were doomed to cruel disappoint- 
ment. As they came up alongside, the mainsail was let 
run, the topsails were hoisted, and the cowardly rascals 
fled as if from an enemy. Hudson and his doomed 
companions were never heard of more. 

Eleven men remained on board. Bobert Bylot, the 
mate, was, it is to be hoped, an unwilling spectator of 
the crime that was perpetrated before his eyes. Juet, 
the disrated mate, the young scoundrel Green, Motor, 
Pierce, Thomas, and Wilson were the ringleaders. The 
cook was an accomplice, as was Francis Clements, a 
friend of Thomas. Simmes seems merely to have 
acquiesced, and Prickett was a time-server. On the 
29th of July 161 1 the Discovery was hove to off Cape 
Digges, where the birds breed. The five ringleaders of 
the mutiny went on shore in a boat, to communicate 
with a party of Eskimos. They were unarmed. Two 
were bartering for venison, two were gathering sorrel, 
and there was a boat keeper. They were suddenly 



1632.] FOLLOWING UP OF THE WORK. 233 

attacked by the savages, and all were mortally wounded. 
Tumbling into the boat together she was shoved off. 
The Eskimos then began shooting at them with bows 
and arrows, and Green was killed outright. The rest 
got back to the ship, but they all died within a few days. 
Seldom has retribution followed so quickly on the per- 
petration of crime. They barely survived their victims. 
Old Juet, who was not on shore with them, died on the 
passage home. 

The survivors were Bylot the mate, who took com- 
mand, Bennet the cook, Clements, Simmes, and Prickett. 
They shot about 300 birds at Cape Digges, and put 
themselves on an allowance of half a bird a day, with a 
little meal. They returned through Hudson's Strait 
and shaped a course for Ireland. Soon the meal was 
exhausted. Bennet the cook kept the birds' bones, and 
fried them in candle grease. The last bird was in the 
steep tub when they sighted Dursey Island, and anchored 
in Berehaven, where a crew was hired to take the ship 
round to the Thames. Bylot and Prickett hurried up to 
London, and told the best story they could invent to 
their employers. No one was punished. Prickett wrote 
a narrative of the catastrophe. Bylot continued to 
receive appointments from Sir Thomas Smith and his 
colleagues. A younger son of Henry Hudson received 
employment from the East India Company, on the 
ground that " the father had perished in the service of 
his country ! " 

Thus had bold Henry Hudson followed up the beacon 
light of Davis, reached the strait and bay which im- 
mortalise his name, and found a grave in the midst of 
bis discoveries. His labours were appreciated, and it 
was resolved that an expedition should be despatched to 



234 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1607. 

complete his work in the spring of the following year. 
Two vessels were fitted out, the Resolution and Dls- 
covei'ij. The command of the expedition was entrusted 
to Thomas Button, an officer of tried valour and ex- 
perience; and it was under the special patronage of 
Prince Henry, who signed the instructions. 

Thomas Button was the son of Miles Button of 
Duffryn in Glamorganshire, whose family had been 
seated there for seven generations. Young Thomas, 
who was born at Duffryn, was sent to sea in 1592. He 
was in the West Indies with Captain Newport in 1603, 
and commanded a king's ship in 1609. In 1612 he 
was appointed to lead the new expedition to Hudson's 
Bay on board the Resolution, the Discover]/ being com- 
manded by Captain Ingram. A relation named Gibbons 
and a friend named Hawkridge accompanied him, while 
Bylot and Prickett, the survivors of Hudson's fatal 
voyage, were on board. The ships were supplied with 
provisions for eighteen months, and in May 1612 they 
left the Thames. 

The expedition reached Cape Digges without en- 
countering any difficulties from ice in Hudson's Strait, 
and remained there three weeks in order to put a 
pinnace together that had been taken out in pieces. 
Button then entered Hudson's Bay, and proceeded west- 
>vard, discoveiing the southern coast of Southampton 
Island and off-lying islets, to one of which Button gave 
the name of Mansell Island, after his relation Admiral 
Sir Edward Mansell ; to another " Gary's Swan's Nest ; " 
to a third, "Hopes Check'd," because there his expecta- 
tions of making progress received a check. Bad weather 
came on, and late in August Button sought refuge in 
a small creek on the western side of Hudson's Bay, 



1632.] FOLLOWING UP OF THE YvORK. 235 

which was named Port Nelson, after the master of the 
Resolution J who died and was bui-ied there. He was 
thus the discoverer of the west coast of Hudson's Bay, 
Hudson himself having only sailed down its east coast 
to the southern extremity. 

Button determined to winter at Port Nelson, and at 
once set his people to work to procure as much game 
as possible. They obtained a large supply of ptarmigan, 
but the winter was very severe, and, although they had 
fresh food, the health of the men suffered from the 
intense cold. Button kept their minds employed by 
requiring them to answer questions relating to the 
voyage and its objects, and by thus interesting them 
in the work upon which they were engaged. In June 
1 6 13 the ice broke up, and the ships left their winter 
quarters and reached Cape Digges. In returning by 
Hudson's Strait, Button discovered that the land on 
which Cape Chidley is situated is an island, and he 
took his ships through the strait which is thus formed. 
On old maps the island is called Button's Island, a 
name which ought to have been retained. He returned 
to England in the autumn of 16 13, but his journal was 
never published. "We are indebted to Luke Fox, a 
later explorer, for all the information that has reached 
us respecting Button's voyage. He became Admiral 
Sir Thomas Button, and was in command on the coast 
of Ireland in 16 18. He was Bear- Admiral in the fleet 
of Sir Edward Mansell, which was sent against the 
Algerine pirates in 1620, and in 1623 was again em- 
ployed in suppressing piracy in the Irish Sea Sir 
Thomas married Mary, daughter of Sir Walter Rice of 
Dynevor, and, dying in April 1634, he left a son who 
succeeded him at Duffryn. The expedition of Sir 



236 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1607. 

Thomas Button to Hudson's Bay was ably conducted. 
It resulted in considerable additions to geographical 
knowledge as regards the southern shores of Southamp- 
ton Island, and in the discovery of the western side of 
the bay. Button's relation, Captain Gibbons, received 
command of the Discovery in 16 14 to follow up the 
discoveries of his predecessor. But he was unable to 
enter Hudson's Strait, and was driven by the ice into a 
bay on the coast of Labrador, where he remained for 
twenty weeks. His crew named the place " Gibbons 
his Hole ; " and on being released from the ice, he 
returned home. 

The persevering adventurers of London were not dis- 
couraged by one or two failures. In 161 5 they sent 
out another expedition, consisting of the Discovery, 
of 55 tons, commanded by Robert Bylot, who had 
served in the three previous expeditions under Hudson, 
Button, and Gibbons in the same ship. William Baffin 
was his " mate and associate," and the crew consisted 
of fourteen men and two boys. Sailing in April 161 5, 
they sighted Cape Farewell on the 6th of May. Cross- 
ing Davis Strait, the Discovery was safely anchored in 
a good harbour on the west side of Resolution Island, 
which is at the northern entrance of Hudson's Sti'ait, 
on the 1st of June. Bylot was an experienced seaman, 
and Baffin was a scientific navigator, who lost no oppor- 
tunity of noting everything that would be useful to his 
brother sailors, like Davis before him. They had some 
difficulty with the ice at the entrance of the strait ; but 
eventually sailed along the northern side until they 
reached a group, which Baffin named the Savage Islands, 
because they met with a party of Eskimos on the shore. 
Continuing a course westward along the northern coast, 



1632.] FOLLOAVING UP OF THE WORK. 237 

the Discovery was closely beset by the ice off some land 
which BaflSn named " Broken Point." The ship was 
immovable for several days ; and the men amused them- 
selves on the ice by firing at butts with bows and arrows 
and playing at football. 

BafBn was very differently employed. He was, like 
his great predecessor Davis, a seaman who closely 
studied the scientific branch of his profession, and 
strove to improve the methods of observing He was par- 
ticularly anxious to test the various theoretical methods 
of finding longitude. While beset in the ice off Broken 
Point he took a complete lunar observation, and it is 
the first ever recorded to have been taken at sea, with 
the doubtful exception of one referred to by Sarmiento. 
BaflSn took altitudes of the sun and moon, and measured 
the distance between them by the difference of azimuth. 
He probably adopted this method because he possessed 
no instrument with which he could measure so large an 
angle. 

On the 27 th of June the ice opened out, and the 
Discovery was able to proceed on her voyage, sighting 
Salisbury Island on the ist of July. Advancing across 
the channel they reached a point on the north-west side 
of Southampton Island, which Bafiin named Cape Com- 
fort. Here the ice was packed so close that the attempt 
to proceed further was abandoned. Moreover, the water 
began to shoal, and land was seen ahead, which led 
Bafiin to suppose that he was at the mouth of a large 
bay. W-ien Sir Edward Parry was exploring the same 
legion in 1824, he named the furthest land seen from 
the Discovery Cape Bylot, and an island on the opposite 
shore, Baffin Island. They are on either side of the 
enti-ance to Frozen Strait, the former on Southampton 



238 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1607. 

Island. Passing between Salisbury and Nottingham 
Islands, which are at the western end of Hudson's 
Strait, the Discoiwy came to an anchor at Cape Digges 
on the 29th of July. 

The number of guillemots breeding at Cape Digges 
is almost incredible to those who have not seen it. The 
crew of the Discovery killed about seventy of these birds, 
but they could easily have shot several hundred if they 
had been wanted. By lot and BaflSn then shaped a 
course for England, on their return. Passing down 
Hudson's Strait without any trouble from ice, they 
crossed the Atlantic, sighted Cape Clear, and anchored 
in Plymouth Sound on the 8th of September 16 15 with- 
out the loss of a single soul. The conclusion arrived 
at by Baffin respecting a north-west passnge, after his 
return from this voyage, was that if there were any 
passage up Hudson's Strait it was by some narrow inlet, 
but that the main passage would be up Davis Strait, 
lie was pei-fectly correct. 

The completion of the examination of Davis's route 
by way of the '* Furious Overfall " was steadily pro- 
gressing, but after the return of Baffin in 16 15 there 
was a pause for sixteen years. At last two voyages 
were planned, one vessel to sail from the port of Bristol 
and the other from London. The Maria^ of seventy 
tons, under the command of Captain Thomas James, 
left Bristol on the 3rd of May 163 1. James had made 
no study of previous voyages to the north, entered no 
seamen acquainted with ice navigation, and when he 
encountered drifting ice-floes in Hudson's Strait he was 
quite helpless. At length he reached Cape Digges on 
the 15th of July. 

Luke Fox was a man of a very different stamp. He 



1632.] FOLLOWING UP OF THE WORK. 239 

was a Yorkshireman, clear-headed, intelligent, and full 
of enthusiasm to advance the cause of Arctic discovery. 
He made a special and most diligent study of previous 
voyages, especially of the enterprises of John Davis. It 
is to Fox that we owe a knowledge of the important 
expedition of Sir Thomas Button, and of other voyages 
which would otherwise have been lost to us. Besides 
being a thorough seaman and an ardent explorer, he 
was a quaint and very entertaining writer. If he had 
a fault it was that he possibly had too good an opinion 
of himself. He had been zealously urging the despatch 
of a new expedition for several years. At length he 
succeeded in interesting Mr. Henry Briggs in northern 
discovery, and the great mathematician not only wrote 
an able treatise on the subject, but also induced Sir 
John Brooke to join in the venture. A vessel named the 
Charles^ of 80 tons, was fitted out, provisioned for eighteen 
months, and manned with twenty sailors and two boys. 
Old Mr. Briggs died while the ship was being prepared 
for sea. As the introducer of the use of logarithms 
he was one of the greatest benefactors the navy has 
ever had. His place was taken by Sir Thomas Boe, the 
eminent traveller and diplomatist, who entered heartily 
into the project, and, with Sir John Woktenholme, 
superintended the fitting out of the ship. The Master 
and Brethren of the Trinity House also gave their 
help. 

Captain Fox was perfectly satisfied with his stores 
and provisions. He tells us that he had " excellent fat 
beef, strong beer, good wheaten bread, Iceland ling, 
butter and cheese of the best, admirable sack and aqua 
vitse, pease, oat meal, wheat meal, oil, balsams, gums, 
unguents, plasters, potions, and purging pills. My 



240 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1607. 

carpenter was fitted from the thickest bolt to the tin 
tack, my gunner from the sabre to the pistol, my bT3at- 
swain from the cable to the sail twine, my cook from 
the caldron to the spoon." 

Never was a commander so perfectly satisfied with 
himself, his crew, and everything on board. It is quite 
pleasant to read his journal. All was right that had 
anything to do with him, and his geese were all swans. 
On the 3rd of May 1631 this ablest of commanders, 
with the best of ships, and the most excellent provi- 
sions, sailed from Deptford. He dropped his name 
of Luke, and called himself North West Fox. But if 
he was conceited, he had something to be conceited of, 
and he was an able and accomplished man. 

On the 1 8th of June the Charles was nearing her 
work. Those "overfalls and races of tide," so fully 
described by Davis, were encountered in the right 
latitude, and Cape Chidley was sighted on the 20th. 
Fox was now about to try his turn at following up the 
beacon-light of John Davis. He found a good deal of 
ice in Hudson's Strait, as is usual at that time of year, 
but it was in small pieces floating apart, and was no 
hindrance to navigation. On the 25 th of June the sea 
was calm, the sky clear, and pieces of spotless ice were 
floating on the water ; a lovely scene when the sun was 
seen to touch the horizon. Fox was a classical scholar, 
a careful observer, and he appreciated the beauties of 
nature. " The sun kist Thetis in our sight," he wrote ; 
*' the same greeting was 5° west from the north, and at 
the same instant the rainbow was in appearance I think 
to canopy them a bed." Next morning the sun rose 
clear; "and so continued all this cold virgin day; but 
now the frost takes care that there shall no more pitch 



1632.] FOLLOWING UP OF THE WORK. 241 

run from off the sunny side of the ship." The Charles 
was beset iu the strait for several days, but Fox judged, 
from the appearance of the sky, that the northern side 
was clear of ice. On the 15th of July, the passage of 
Hudson's Strait was achieved, and the ship was in sight 
of the islands at its western entrance, named Digges, 
Salisbury, Nottingham, Mansell, and Southampton. 
"They were so named," says Fox, "as a small remem- 
brance of the charge, countenance, and instruction given 
to the enterprise, and which, though small, neither time 
nor fame ought to suffer oblivion to bury. For when- 
soever it shall please God to ripen those seeds, and make 
them ready for his sickle ; he whom he hath appointed 
to be the happier reaper of this crop, must remember to 
acknowledge that those honourable and worthy person- 
ages were the first advancers." Most true ! neither the 
advancers and liberal merchants who supplied the means, 
nor the illustrious seamen who made the discoveries, 
should be forgotten by posterity. It is to them that we 
owe those solid foundations of national enterprise, and 
of love for the common weal, upon which the super- 
structure of the British Empire has been erected by 
their descendants. 

On the 2ist of July the Charles was off the island 
named " Gary's Swan's Nest " by Button ; and on the 
27th another island was discovered and named "Sir 
Thomas Roe's Welcome," in 64° 10' N. This designation 
has since been transferred to the channel in which the 
island is situated, and as such it often occurs in the 
narratives of more recent northern voyages, 

Goasting round the western shore, he gave the names 
of " Brooke Gobham " and " Briggs his Mathematics " 
to two other islands, and he then proceeded along the 

Q 



£42 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1607. 

western shore of Hudson's Bay as far soutli as Port 
Nelson, where Button's expedition wintered. "No sign 
of any opening to the westward appeared, and Fox was 
making his way across Hudson's Bay again when he fell 
in with the Maria, commanded by Captain James, of 
Bristol, on the 1st of August. Next day Captain Fox 
dined on board the Maria, and had a cordial reception. 
He found the ship ill found, and came to the conclusion 
that the captain was no seaman. The cabin was so 
small that they were obliged to dine between decks, and 
though the ship was only under courses, she took in 
such seas that " sauce would not ha.^e been wanting if 
there had been roast mutton." "Their ship took its 
liquor as kindly as themselves, for her nose was no 
sooner out of the pitcher but her neb, like the duck's, 
was in it again." Fox doubted whether it would be 
better for the Maria to be beset in the ice, where the 
crew would be kept from putrefaction by the piercing 
air, or to be left in the open sea, where they would be 
kept sweet by being thus daily pickled. He was very 
facetious in his remarks on the Bristol ship and her 
crew, which he thus encountered in that solitary sea, 
and after being with them for seventeen hours, he 
parted company with his rival and stood southward 
along the land. He established the fact that there was 
no opening along the western coast of Hudson's Bay 
from 65° 30' to 55° 10' N., a distance of 620 miles. 

Having completed this examination, Fox steered 
northwards, and was in sight of "Gary's Swan's Nest" 
again by the 7th of September, He then proceeded up 
the eastern side of the coast-line, which trends north- 
wards from the western entrance of Hudson's Strait, the 
whole of which was a new discovery. Passing a head- 



1632.] FOLLOWING UP OF THE WORK. 243 

land, to which he gave the name of " Lord Weston's 
Foreland," Fox reached a point in 66° 47' N., where 
the land began to trend to the south-east, and this 
he christened " Fox his Farthest." In after years Sir 
Edward Parry gave the name of Fox's Channel to the 
great opening leading to "Fox his Farthest;" and our 
gallant Yorkshireman has this credit down to the pre- 
sent day, that his Farthest is still an Ultima Thule, 
and that it has never since been visited by any later 
explorer. 

Fox was sent out because Sir Thomas Button had 
reported that the tide off Nottingham Island came from 
the north-west, and that consequently there was proba- 
bility of a passage in that dii-ection. But by careful 
observations Fox had ascertained that the tide came 
from the south-east in that locality, and he therefore 
concluded that he ought to return to England. Parry, 
in 1824, observed that the tides were rapid and very 
irregular, and he had little doubt that this irregularity 
was caused by a meeting of the tides. The flood comes 
from the northward down Fox's Channel, and meets the 
rapid stream which sets in from Hudson's Strait. 

On the 2ist of September, after having well weighed 
all considerations which might make it advisable to 
winter, and the strong reasons against that course, 
North-West Fox decided upon returning home, and he 
made sail for England. That morning there was a bril- 
liant sunrise, which gave rise to the following strange 
conceit from the pen of the old seaman : " This morning 
Aurora blusht as though she had ushered her master 
from some unchaste lodging, and the air so silent as 
though all those handmaids had promised secresy." 
With a fair wind the Charles ran down Hudson's Strait 



241 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1607. 

without any hindrance from the ice, sighting Resolution 
Island, on the north side of the eastern entrance, on the 
27th. She arrived safely in the Downs, without losing 
a single soul, and with all the crew sound and well. 
Fox truly claimed that he had "proceeded in these 
discoveries farther than any of his predecessors, in less 
time and at less charge ; that he cleared up all the 
erpected hopes from the west side of Hudson's Bay ; " 
and, he could now add, he discovered a coast-line on the 
east side of the channel bearing his name, which has 
never since been explored or visited. 

The cruise of the Maria was not so fortunate. After 
parting company with Captain Fox in Hudson's Bay, 
she struck on a rock when Captain James was in a 
deep sleep. The ship seems to have been badly handled. 
The sails were thrown aback, but without effect. They 
were then furled and an anchor was laid out astern. 
All the water was started and the coal was thrown 
overboard. Then all hands went to the capstan and 
hove round with such good will that the cable parted. 
Eventually the ship floated off; and Captain James 
controlled his passion, and checked some bad counsel 
that was given him to revenge himself on the officer of 
the watch. The fault was his own. He ought not to 
have been in bed and asleep when the ship was so near 
the land. He found a secure harbour in the extreme 
south of Hudson's Bay, protected by an island after- 
wards named Charlton Island, and there he determined 
to winter. During October and November it was in- 
tensely cold and much snow fell. Yet the country was 
by no means Arctic in character. There were woods of 
fir-trees, and the crew was able to cut plenty of fuel. 
A hut was built on shore for the sick, in which a large 



1632.] FOLLOWING UP OF THE WOEK. 245 

fire was kept burning. The first man to succumb to 
the miseries of the situation was the gunner, who sank 
gradually in spite of being allowed to drink nothing 
but sack. The ship was driven on shore, and Captain 
James caused the provisions to be landed. But the 
cold increased, they could cut vinegar and wine with 
hatchets, and were in a condition of extreme misery. 
They were now all collected in a house they had built, 
in the shelter of a wood which they named " Winter's 
Forest" in honour of Sir John Winter. The house 
was under a clump of trees, and at a short distance 
from the beach where the ship was on shore. It was 
about twenty feet square, built of upright posts with 
the sides wattled with boughs, and about six feet high. 
The roof was of rafters and boughs, the whole covered 
over with the mainsail. In the inside the bonnet sails 
formed the walls, and bed places were built round three 
sides. The hearth was in the centre. A second house 
was built with the foresail for a roof. A store-house 
was also constructed, to receive all the provisions and 
stores from the ship. Before Christmas the houses 
were covered deep with snow. 

In February the scurvy began to show itself, and 
before long two-thirds of the crew were down with it. 
Thus the miserable winter passed on, and by the end 
of April the snow had ceased, and rain began to fall. 
They obtained very few ptarmigan or game of any kind, 
and lived on the salt beef and oatmeal they had brought 
from England, with pork, fish, and boiled pease. All the 
men who were able to move were obliged to work on 
board, pumping and digging the ice out of the ship. 
On the 6th of May, John Warden, the master's mate, 
died, and was buried on the summit of a bleak rising 



216 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1607. 

ground, which was named Brandon Hill. A few days 
afterwards the carpenter died, and was interred beside 
the master's m^ate. The gunner's body, which had been 
buried at sea, was found imbedded in the ice under the 
gun-room ports. It was dug out and placed in the 
earth, by the side of his shipmates on Brandon Hill. 
As the weather got warmer the work of refitting the 
ship advanced. Captain James became more hopeful; 
he hoisted the ensign on the birthday of the Prince 
of Wales, and called the place Charlestown, which, by 
contraction, became Charlton Island. By the 8th of 
June the water was pumped out of the ship, but she 
was aground in the sand, and it was necessary to 
lighten her by taking out all the ballast, in order to get 
her afloat. This operation was successfully performed, 
the ship was rigged, and the stores were brought on 
board. As the snow disappeared, vetches and scurvy- 
grass were found in considerable quantities, which con- 
duced to the recovery of the sick. 

On the ist of July 1632, Captain James took a last 
look at the graves of his companions, and, returning to 
the ship, made sail for Bristol, where he arrived safely 
in September. 

By these successive voyages, the discoveries were 
completed in the direction pointed out by Davis, within 
a quarter of a century of the death of that great 
navigator. Hudson and Button, Gibbon and Bylot, 
Baffin, Fox, and James were the men who followed up 
the route which Davis had pointed out. They dis- 
covered Hudson's Bay, with its islands and coast lines. 
They opened up a vast region for development, and as a 
field for future enterprise. They thus increased geo- 



1632.] FOLLOWING UP OF THE WOEK. 247 

graphical knowledge, and prepared the way xor more 
complete modern research. 

The results of their labours were valuable and im- 
portant. A great commercial company was formed 
which carried on a lucrative trade by way of Hudson's 
Bay and Strait~ for two centuries ; and it is probable 
that, in the near future, a still more important route for 
commerce will be established by Hudson's Strait, which 
will carry the harvests of the far w^est to the markets of 
Europe. Such are the far-reaching consequences arising 
from the discovery of the " Furious Overfall," and of 
the opening near Cape Chidley, by John Davis. 



CHAPTER XIY. 
THE FOLLOWING UP OF THE WORK OF DAVIS, 

IL 

By "Sanderson his Hope." 

" No ice towards the north, but a great sea, free, large, 
very salt and blue, and of an unsearchable depth." 
This was what John Davis saw from the base of that 
mighty cliff which he named *' Sanderson his Hope." 
The cliff was his beacon, pointing to the route which 
filled him with most hope. The strait at whose entrance 
he described the '* Furious Overfall," was his alternative 
route. It was followed up to important discoveries by 
Hudson and his successors. But the fairest promise 
came from the blue sea of unsearchable depth which 
stretched northward from Hope Sanderson. It was to 
this route that Davis referred in his last appeal to the 
Lords of the Council, for a renewal of Arctic enterprise. 
Ten years after his death, a worthy successor was found 
who passed onwards beyond Davis Strait, and completed 
the work of John Davis by his route of Hope Sanderson. 
William Baffin resembled his illustrious predecessor, 
in character and disposition, more closely than any other 
navigator of the seventeenth century. He had the same 
enthusiastic zeal, the same mildness and geniality, and 

248 



i6o9-22.] FOLLOWING UP OF THE WOEK. 249 

the same devotion to the scientific branch of his pro- 
fession. Unfortunately we know nothing of Baffin 
until we are introduced to him as an experienced sea- 
man in the prime of life. There is some slight reason 
for the belief that he was a native of London or West- 
minster, of "Welsh extraction, and that he lived with 
his wife in the parish of St. Thomas Apostle in the city, 
near Queenhithe. Here his daughter Susan appears to 
have been born in October 1609. But Baffin himself 
must have been constantly at sea, and he probably raised 
himself, by his good conduct and talent, from a very 
humble position. Purchas speaks of him as "that 
learned unlearned mariner and mathematician, wanting 
art of words." No doubt he was self-educated, which 
very much enhanced the merit of his valuable observa- 
tions and discoveries. 

Baffin's first recorded voyage was with Captain Hall 
to Greenland in 1609. James Hall was a Yorkshire- 
man, and almost certainly a native of Hull. His first 
recorded voyage was as chief pilot of an expedition de- 
spatched from Denmark, by King Christian lY., in 1605, 
to discover the lost colony of Greenland. It reached 
the western coast of that little known land, near the 
site of the modern Danish settlement of Holsteinborg, 
and Hall, having had much communication with the 
Eskimos, wrote a very interesting accoimt of them. The 
King of Denmark fitted out a second expedition under 
Admiral Lindenov in 1606, and Hall was again em- 
ployed as pilot. They visited the same part of Green- 
land, and in their intercourse with the natives they 
killed several, and carried off others, with their Jcayaks. 
This conduct led to fatal retaliation when Hall appeared 
among the Eskimos in a subsequent voyage. In 1607 



250 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1609. 

King Christian gave up his attempts to find the lost 
colony, and James Hall returned to England, eager to 
embark once more on discoveries in the direction of 
Greenland. His faithful follower, William Huntriss, a 
Scarborough lad, who had accompanied him in all his 
voyages, and had become so proficient as a navigator 
that King Christian had -granted him a special allow- 
ance, returned with Hall. 

In 1 61 2 Hall induced four great merchant princes. 
Sir Thomas Smith, Sir James Lancaster, who commanded 
the first voyage of the East India Company, Sir William 
Cockayne, and Mr. Ball to join with him in an expedi- 
tion to Greenland, to search for mineral ores. Two 
vessels, called the Patience and Heart's Ease, were fitted 
out at Hull, and William Bafiin was pilot of Hall's 
ship, the Patience. Andrew Barker commanded the 
Heart's Ease, with William Huntriss as his mate, and 
John Gatonby, who kept a journal which has been 
published in Churchill's Collection, was quarter-master. 
The narrative of Bafiin himself commences on July 8, 
16 1 2, when the expedition had already arrived in Cockin 
(correctly Cockayne) Sound, on the west coast of Green- 
land, where the Danish settlement of Sukkertoppen is 
now situated. 

BajQSn is first introduced to us, on this bleak Green- 
land coast, making preparations to take an observa- 
tion for finding the longitude. He is thus brought to 
our notice as an ingenious and accomplished nautical 
astronomer. The first part of the observation he de- 
scribes, is that for finding the time and place from the 
altitude of a heavenly body, the latitude and declination 
being known. But his method of finding the longitude 
by lunar culuaination is unsuited to purposes of naviga- 



.1622.] FOLLOWING UP OF THE WOKK. 251 

tion, although his record of it is an interesting proof of 
his zeal and ingenuity as an observer. He says of it, 
"This finding of the longitude, I confess, is somewhat 
difficult and troublesome ; but if it be carefully looked 
unto, and exactly wrought, there would be no great 
error, if your ephemerides be true." 

On the 2ist of July the two ships anchored in 
Rommel's Fiord, the present Holsteinborg ; and about 
forty Eskimos came to trade. When they saw Captain 
Hall in one of the boats, an Eskimo gave him a fatal 
wound with a dart from a distance of four yards. There 
can be no doubt that this was an act of vengeance by 
one whose relation had been killed or kidnapped by 
Hall during his Danish voyage ; for the Eskimos made 
no attempt to harm any one else. Hall lingered for a 
day, his last wish being that Andrew Barker should 
succeed him, and that young Huntriss should be master 
of the Heart's Ease. There were some objections raised 
against Barker by the men, but the officers supported 
him. He was an old and experienced teaman, was 
three times Warden of the Trinity House at Hull, and 
presented that institution with an Eskimo hayak, which 
still hangs from the ceiling of one of the rooms. After 
Hall's death some search was made for the mines 
reported by the Danes, but it became evident that they 
had mistaken the mica, often found in shining masses 
in clefts of the gneiss, for silver ore. It was clearly a 
fruitless quest, and the ships therefore returned home, 
the Patience arriving at Hull in September i6 1 2. Baffin 
concludes his journal with some account of Greenland, 
its physical aspect, plants and animals, and of the 
manners and customs of the Eskimos. He mentions 
having seen, some forty miles up the fiord he named 



252 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1609. 

BalFs River, a small coppice of trees six or seven feet 
high. The tallest tree ever seen by Dr. E,ink in Green- 
land was a birch fourteen feet high in 60° N. {Betula 
alpestrls), but it is not found north of 62° N. Baffin 
also mentions the dwarf willow, the small berry {Impe^ 
trum nigrum), and the angelica, which he found in 
many places, and observed in the boats of the natives, 
showing that it was used by them. The young stalks, 
being brittle and sweet, are eaten raw, and the name 
quan, which is Norse, points to its introduction into 
Greenland by the Normans. Baffin mentions having 
seen reindeer, although they are generally far inland, 
near the foot of the glaciers, and he adds that white foxes 
and hares are common. He gives a graphic description 
of the Eskimo Icayalcs and umenalcs. of their winter iglas 
and summer tents, of their rites and customs respecting 
burials, and of their superstitions. 

The next voyage in which Baffin was employed was 
in the service of the Muscovy Company. A fleet of 
seven ships was fitted out in 1613, under the command 
of Captain Benjamin Joseph, who had the Tiger, of 260 
tons, with Baffin as pilot. They left the Medway on 
the 13th of May, and sighted Spitzbergen on the 30th, 
the object being to catch whales in the Spitzbergen 
waters. Twenty-four Biscayans, who were in those 
days the most expert whale-fishers in Europe, had been 
engaged to serve in the fleet, and on the 4th of June 
the first whale was killed. It seems that the Biscayans, 
natives of villages on the coasts of Guipuzcoa and Biscay, 
went away in boats to look out for whales in the offing, 
and were called "our whale- stickers," while the English 
part of the crew took the casks and coppers on shore for 
melting blubber. The English commander took posses- 



1622.] FOLLOWING UP OF THE WORK. 25S 

sion of the land in the name of his king, and claimed 
the right of ordering the ships of all other countries to 
leave the Spitzbergen seas. Several Spanish vessels 
were met with, and ships from Bordeaux, St. Jean de 
Luz, and Holland. They meekly obeyed as a rule, and 
Captain Joseph succeeded in carrying things with a high 
hand, either sending them away or allowing them to 
remain on such conditions as he proposed to them. They 
were to kill eight whales for the Muscovy Company, and 
after that as many as they could get for themselves. 
On this plan Captain Joseph got full ladings of whale 
oil for his ships. They returned to the Thames on the 
6 th of September. 

While Baffin was on the west coast of Spitzbergen he 
made regular and very careful observations for latitude 
with a quadrant four feet in semidiameter, as well as 
observations for variation and dip of the magnetic 
needle. He also adopted an ingenious method of observ- 
ing the refraction of the sun. He first obtained the 
latitude, and then took the difference between the co- 
latitude and the declination, corrected for the instant 
when he observed the sun on meridian below the pole 
to have one-fifth of its diameter above the horizon. 
Then dividing the whole diameter of the sun into fifths, 
he calculated that the sun's centre was three-tenths 
of its whole diameter below the horizon. Subtracting 
three-tenths of the difference between the co-latitude 
and the declination from that difference, he got the 
approximate refraction. It was in these special obser- 
vations, made in addition to the regular navigating work 
of the ship, that Baffin showed his inventive talent, and 
his untiring zeal for the cause of science. Baffin him- 
self wrote the narrative of Joseph's voyage. 



254 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1609; 

In 1 6 14 Baffin undertook a second voyage to the west 
coast of Spitzbergen as pilot, on board the Thomasinef 
forming one of a fleet of ten ships, again commanded 
by Captain Joseph. Leaving the Thames on the 4th of 
May, the ships were beset in the ice from the 28th to 
the 2nd of June, when the Thomasine got into the open 
sea, and reached the Foreland, the northern end of 
Prince Charles Island, on the west coast of Spitzbergen, 
which was the usual place of rendezvous. Baffin was 
sent in a shallop as far as Hakluyt Headland, the 
north-western point of Spitzbergen, to examine the state 
of the ice, but he found it close pressed on the land, so 
that it would not be possible for the ships to pass along 
the northern coast. 

In July it was resolved that two shallops should be 
despatched to explore the northern coast, one under the 
command of Baffin, and the other under Robert Fotherby, 
the master's mate. The ship was left in a harbour, 
the two shallops were provisioned for several days, and 
they succeeded in advancing along the northern coast of 
Spitzbergen, as far as Wyche's Sound (the Wijde Bay of 
modern maps), where they landed, and walked several 
miles over the hills. From this point of vantage the 
Seven Islands, and the northern point of North East 
Land, would have been visible. Returning to the ship 
they proceeded with the fishery until near the end of 
the season, when another bold attempt was made to ex- 
plore the northern coast. The weather became unusually 
warm in August. On the 27 th there was a gale from 
the S.S.W., and the Thomasine^ in company with the 
Heart's-ease — her chummy ship — made sail round Hak- 
luyt Headland, and along the north coast of Spitzbergen, 
and got as far as the mouth of Sir Thomas Smith's Inlet, 



i622.] FOLLOWING UP OF THE WORK. 255 

which is improperly called Hinlopen Strait on modern 
charts. The wind then shifted to the east and they were 
obliged to return, but not before having examined the 
whole northern coast of the main island. In the afternoon 
of the 29th Hakluyt Head bore S.E. The weather was 
calm and comparatively warm, as they shaped a southerly 
course, being homeward bound. A gale was encountered 
in mid ocean, which increased to a storm, and the men 
were not consoled by the sight of St. Elmo's light, or 
the Corpo Santo, as they called it, which the master saw 
upon the fore bonnet. English seamen believed that it 
always presaged a coming storm; and the omen was 
verified by the foul weather continuing, and the sea 
rising so that they were obliged to lie to under their 
foresail ; and afterwards under no canvas for five hours, 
"lying a hull," as it was called. But the voyage at 
length came to an end, and on the 4th of October the 
Tliomasine arrived off Wapping, with all her men in 
perfect health. Her journal was written by Robert 
Fotherby, the master's mate, and published in Purchas. 
Baffin had now made three voyages to the Arctic 
Kegions. He had visited the coast of Greenland, and 
passed two summers on the west and north coasts of 
Spitzbergen. When, therefore, the company for the 
discovery of the North- West Passage resolved to send 
out the Discovery under the command of Robert Bylot 
in 16 1 5, William Baffin was selected to accompany him, 
and received the appointment of pilot. This voyage has 
already been noticed in the previous chapter. Its whole 
history was written by Baffin himself, together with a 
tabulated log-book, and a coloured chart of Hudson's 
Strait. This is the only one of Baffin's numerous charts 
that has been preserved, and it is now among the manu- 



256 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1609. 

scripts in the British Museum. The coasts are coloured 
and shaded, and the track of the Discovery is shown by 
a red dotted line. When Sir Edward Parry went over 
the same ground he bore testimony to the accuracy of 
his predecessor, confirmed his tidal observations, and 
named the most distant land visible from the point 
where the Discovery turned back, in honour of Bylot and 
Baffin. 

On the return of the Discovery, in the autumn of 
1615, preparations were made for Baffin's fifth and most 
important Arctic voyage. He was now to follow up the 
beacon-light of Davis, represented by " Sanderson his 
Hope." He had been well trained for the work by 
previous navigation in the ice ; and he had that love for 
his profession, and especially for the scientific branch 
of it, which made him a man after Davis's own heart. 
He may have been a self-taught man, but he had so far 
educated himself as to be able to write letters which are 
not only well expressed, but are graced with classical 
allusions. Like Davis he was in advance of his con- 
temporaries as an astronomical observer. 

The voyage of 161 6 was undertaken by Sir Thomas 
Smith, Sir Francis Jones, Sir Dudley Digges, and Sir 
John Wolstenholme. As before Bobert Bylot was 
appointed master, and William Baffin again became 
pilot of the Discovery, of fifty-five tons, with a crew of 
sixteen men. Baffin's papers and maps fell into the 
hands of Purchas, who published, in his "Pilgrimes," 
the great navigator's "Briefe and True Belation," and 
his letter to Sir John Wolstenholme. But Purchas 
omitted Baffin's priceless map and his journal, thus 
doing an irreparable injury to posterity. They are now 
lost, although it is probable that the very rare map met 



1622.] FOLLOWING UP OF THE WORK. 257 

with in a few copies of the narrative of Luke Fox, may 
be partly taken from the work of Baffin. 

The Discover 1/ sailed from Gravesend on the 26 th of 
March 1616, and shaped a course down channel; but 
a westerly wind coming on, she put into Dartmouth 
Harbour, and remained there for eleven days. Thus 
was the ship, destined to carry forward the discovery of 
Davis beyond his furthest point, receiving shelter in the 
harbour which was in sight of the home he had loved so 
well. The successors of Davis left Dartmouth on the 
15th of April, a month earlier than Davis had usually 
sailed from the same port. The first land they saw was 
the coast of Greenland near Cockin Sound, in 65° 20' 
N., where Baffin had been in his first Arctic voyage with 
James Hall, in 16 12. Several Eskimos in their kayalcs 
came round the ship, and were given small pieces of 
iron, but Bylot and Baffin did not wish to anchor so 
early in the voyage, having made a good passage across 
the Atlantic. The wind was against them, and they 
worked up to the northward until they reached 70° 20' 
N. " Then we came to an anchor in a faire sound near 
the place Master Davis called London Coast." This 
was probably near Noursoak, on the north shore of the 
Waigat, or strait dividing Disco Island from the main- 
land of Greenland. 

At sunset on the 22nd of May the Diseovery left her 
anchorage in the Waigat, after a stay of two days, 
during which Baffin diligently observed the tides. These 
tidal observations gave rise to some apprehension re- 
specting the passage, for the rise and fall was only feight 
or nine feet, the flood coming from the south. Working 
up against a dead foul wind the old craft made but slow 
progress, and encountering a dead whale far out at sea. 



258 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1609. 

some time was spent in getting the whalebone on board. 
But by sunset of the 30th they were fairly in sight of 
Sanderson his Hope, ''the. farthest land Master Davis 
was at/' on the 3olh of June 1587, an interval of nearly 
thirty years. Pushing through some loose ice, they 
came among islands, where Baffin and his crew had 
pleasant relations with some Eskimo lasses, showing 
them the ship, and helping them to go from one island 
to another, in search of their men folk. They called 
the group "Women Islands," a name it still retains. 

Trom the " Women Islands " Baffin passed on to the 
group now called " Baffin Islands ; " but finding much ice 
along the coast, the bold pilot steered westward, and 
took the perilous course of attempting the middle pack. 
Parry succeeded in passing through it in 18 19, and 
Nares in 1875, but there is great danger of being beset 
and drifted southwards. It is always safer to keep near 
the shore. " Stick to the land- floe ! " was the favourite 
maxim of experienced whaling captains. Baffin came 
to the same conclusion. After a short trial of the middle 
pack he resolved to keep near the land ; and on the 15th 
of June he anchored in Melville Bay, under the lee of 
some islands off the point now called Cape Shackleton, 
Vhich is 1400 feet high, and nearly perpendicular. 
Here the ship was visited by Eskimos in kayaJis and 
umejiaks, who exchanged narwhals' horns for pieces of 
iron and glass beads. Baffin therefore called the place 
Horn Sound, a name which ought to be restored on 
modern maps, just north of Cape Shackleton, where 
there is a cliff frequented by guillemots. 

In the last days of June the Discover?/ made the 
passage of Melville Bay, since so much dreaded by 
whalers, with little or no obstruction from the ice, and 



i622.] FOLLOWING UP OF THE WOEK. 259 

by the ist of July she had reached the "north water." 
Baffin named a fair headland Cape Dudley Digges, in 
76.8' N., and a deep bay twelve leagues further north 
was called Wolstenholme Sound. Here the little vessel 
was anchored ; but in a few hours she Was driven out 
to sea, the gale increased, her foresail was blown out of 
the bolt- ropes, and when the weather cleared, they found 
themselves imbayed in another deep sound, where they 
anchored. Seeing several whales, they gave it the name 
of Whale Sound. The wind soon moderated, and the 
Discovery continued her adventurous course along this 
far northern land, until she was stopped by the ice in 
78° N., when in sight of an opening named Smith. Sound, 
"the greatest and largest in all this bay." An island 
between Smith and Whale Sounds received the name 
of Hakluyt Island. Here the Discovery was again 
anchored, in the hope of finding whalebone on the shore. 
But again the wind and sea rose, and they were driven 
from their shelter, to beat about for two days in the 
** north, water " of Baffin's Bay. When the weather 
cleared up, they sighted a group of islands, which 
received the name of the Gary Islands, after the ship's 
husband, Mr. Alwyn Gary. 

Baffin stood to the westward in an open sea, with a 
stiff gale of wind, until the loth of July, when it fell 
calm. The Discovery was now on the western side of 
the bay, and an opening was in sight which received 
the name of Jones Sound. Here a boat was sent on 
shore, and many walrus were seen on the rocks, but a 
fair wind springing up, no attempt was made to kill 
them. Running southwards another opening was dis- 
covered in 74° 30', which was called Lancaster Sound 
in honour of the eminent Director of the East India 



260 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1609. 

Company, who had commanded the first Engh'sh voyage 
to the East Indies. Too hastily assuming this and 
other sounds to be merely -bays, Baffin ran southwards 
along the western coast of Davis Strait for ten days, and 
then standing eastward, after some difficulty from large 
floes of ice, succeeded in reaching the west coast of 
Greenland again, and anchored in Cockin Sound. 
Several of the crew had been attacked by scurvy, and 
the cook had died. But such quantities of sorrel and 
scurvy grass were now gathered and administered to the 
sick, that in ten days they were all in perfect health 
again. Leaving Cockin Sound on the 6th of August, 
the Discovery had a prosperous voyage home, and on the 
30th of August she was anchored off Dover. 

Thus was the wish of Davis accomplished. His dis- 
covery as far as Hope Sanderson was extended by his 
successor, and the whole of Baffin's Bay was added to 
geographical knowledge. It is pleasant to feel that Baffin 
venerated the memory of his illustrious predecessor. 
He always mentions him with respect, and in his letter 
to Sir John Wolstenholme he generously says — "Neither 
was Master Davis to be blamed in his report and great 
hopes ; for as far as Hope Sanderson the sea is open, of 
an unsearchable depth and good colour." Baffin's con- 
clusion was that " there is no passage nor hope of 
passage to the north of Davis Straits." But Baffin was 
wrong, and Davis was right. In the distant future the 
wishes of Davis received further development, and Davis 
Strait proved to be the way to further important geo- 
graphical discovery, westward and northward by Lan- 
caster Sound, and by Smith Sound, openings which 
Baffin had erroneously supposed to be merely bays. 

A review of the scientific observations of William 



1622.:] FOLLOWING UP OF THE WOEK. 261 

Baffin will show how zealously he followed the example 
of John Davis in this respect. We first find him, when 
at anchor in Cockin Sound, engaged in an experimental 
series of observations intended to obtain the longitude 
Ly moon's culmination. In this first recorded voyage, 
he mentions having taken sixteen observations for lati- 
tude and eight for variation. In his first voyage to 
Spitzbergen he observed for dip of the magnetic needle, 
as well as for variation ; and he adopted an ingenious 
method of calculating the sun's refraction. The journal 
of his second Spitzbergen voyage is unfortunately lost to 
us, and with it the account of his observations. But in 
1615, when in Hudson's Strait, he records daily observa- 
tions for latitude, and twenty- seven for variation of the 
compass. He describes a complete lunar observation ; 
and thus has the honour of having been the first 
Englishman who ever took a lunar at sea. He also 
made another attempt to find the longitude hy moon's 
culmination, and the correctness of the deductions de- 
rived from his tidal observations was long afterwards 
confined by Sir Edward Parry. In his fifth voyage, 
when he immortalised his name by the discovery of 
Baffin's Bay, Baffin was equally diligent, but his work is 
unfortunately lost to us through the injudicious omission 
of Purchas, and we only have his observation for varia- 
tion in Smith Sound, to which he incidentally alludes in 
his letter to Sir John Wolstenholme 

After 1616, Baffin, in order to obtain suitable em- 
ployment, was obliged to enter the service of the East 
India Company. But when he found himself under this 
necessity, it is extremely interesting to find that, like 
Davis before him, he never abandoned the hope of con- 
.tinuing his northern discoveries. He even conceived 



262 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1609. 

the very same scheme which Davis so long entertained, 
namely, of making the northern passage by way of the 
Pacific. Mr Briggs, in his "Brief Discourse on a North- 
West Passage," says that Baffin told him "that he 
would, if he might get employment, search the passage 
from Japan, by the coast of Asia, any way he could." 

In 1617 Baffin obtained the appointment of master's 
mate on board the Amie Roydl^ of 1320 tons, Andrew 
Shilling captain, in the fleet for the seventh joint stock 
voyage of the East India Company, commanded by 
Captain Martin Pring. In September the fleet arrived 
at Surat, and Captain Shilling was sent to the Bed Sea, 
charged with the duty of " settling an English trade in 
those parts." Shilling succeeded in obtaining a firman 
from the Pasha of Mocha for English merchants to trade 
at Mocha and Aden, and the Anne Royal then visited 
the opposite African coast. Baffin was very actively 
employed in surveying and preparing charts both in the 
Red Sea, and afterwards when the Anne Royal was in 
the Persian Gulf. She returned home in September 
16 1 9, and during these two years Baffin had won the 
approbation of his superiors and of the Company. 
There is the following entry in the Court's Minutes of 
October ist, 1619 — "William Baffin, a master's mate in 
the Anne, to have a gratuity for his pains and good art 
in drawing out certain plots of the coasts of Persia and 
the Red Sea which are judged to have been very well 
and artificially performed." Captain Shilling had con- 
ducted the negotiations with the Turkish authorities in 
the Red Sea, with such ability and discretion that he 
was selected to have command of the next fleet, consist- 
ing of four new ships. 

Captain Shilling was on board the London^ and, at his 



l622.] 



FOLLOWING UP OF THE WOEK. 



263 



special recommendation, William Baffin was appointed 
master of the same ship. The other ships were the 
Hart, under Captain Blithe, the EoebiicJc, and the Eagle. 
Leaving England in March 1620 the fleet arrived at 
Surat in November, where news had just been received 
that a combined Portuguese and Dutch fleet was wait- 
ing off Jashk, near the entrance of the Persian Gulf, 




THE PERSIAN GULF. 

to intercept and attack the English ships. Shilling at 
once resolved to go in search of this hostile fleet, and 
on the 1 6th of December he fell in with four of the 
enemy's ships, and engaged them. The first fight lasted 
for nine hours, when both fleets hauled off to repair 
damages. On the 28th a second battle was fought, both 
fleets anchoring within range. But the Portuguese first 



264 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1609. 

"cried hold, enough." Captain Swan of the Roebuck 
tells us that *' about three in the afternoon, unwilling, 
after so hotte a dinner, to receive a like supper, they 
cut their cables, and drove with the tide until they were 
without range of our guns, and then their frigate came 
to them, and towed them away, wonderfully mangled and 
torn." Captain Shilling was mortally wounded in this 
encounter, and his body was interred at Jashk, on the 
7th of January 1621, with all decency and solemnity. 

Captain Blithe succeeded Shilling in command of the 
fleet; Baffin remaining in charge of the London. He 
passed the winter, that is, the period of the south-west 
monsoon, in the little port of Sur on the coast of Oman, 
where there were fresh water and palm trees. Siir 
received the name of "London's Hope," and Baffin 
remained there until the 15th of August. 

In 162 1 the English agreed with Shah Abbas of 
Persia to drive the Portuguese out of Ormuz, by a 
joint attack. The English were to have a share of 
the plunder, and in future to receive half the cus- 
toms of Bandar Abbas or Gombroon, the town on 
the mainland which was destined to take the place 
of the island of Ormuz as a commercial mart. The 
English fleet assembled at Surat, and on the 23rd of 
December 162 1 it arrived at an open roadstead on the 
Persian Gulf near Minab, with the island of Ormuz 
in sight. Here the news was received that the Portu- 
guese had erected a fort on the island of Kishm to 
protect some wells for supplying Ormuz with water. 
The fort was already besieged by a Persian army, and 
on January 20, 1622, the English fleet arrived. The 
first operation was to land a certain number of guns 
from each ship, and to throw up earthworks. The siege 



1 622.] FOLLOWING UP OF THE WORK. 265 

then commenced, and, after two days, "William Baffin 
went on shore with his mathematical instruments, to 
take the height and distance of the castle wall, so as to 
find the range. " But as he was about the same he 
received a shot from the castle into his belly, wherewith 
he gave three leaps and died immediately." Purchas 
says — " In the Indies he died, in the late Ormuz busi- 
ness, slain in fight, with a shot, as he was trying his 
mathematical projects and conclusions." The death of 
the great navigator took place on the 23rd of January 
1622. The fort of Kishm surrendered on the 1st of 
February, and the fall of Ormuz followed a few days 
afterwards. 

In these last two chapters we have seen how the two 
routes discovered by Davis, and which he pointed out as 
the directions that future exploration should take, were 
followed up by subsequent navigators. By way of the 
*' Furious Overfall" of Davis, most important discoveries 
were made during the ten years which followed on his 
death. Hudson discovered the south side of Hudson's 
Strait, and the eastern coast of Hudson's Bay. Button 
and Fox explored the western side of that great bay. 
By lot and Baffin surveyed the northern side of Hudson's 
Strait, and Fox discovered the eastern coast of the 
channel which bears his name. By way of Sanderson's 
Hope of Davis, Baffin sailed onwards past the furthest 
point of his illustrious predecessor, and discovered the 
great bay which bears his own name, and also the open- 
ings or sounds which form the portals of the most 
important Arctic discoveries of modern times. It was 
thus that the influence of the master-mind was felt by 
his successors, long after he himself had passed away. 

The geographical student will find that the best and 



266 LIFE OF JOHN DAVIS. [1609-22. 

most agreeable method of acquiring a thorough ground- 
ing in his science is, by the contemplation of the life of 
a great geographer or explorer. For by this biographical 
method, each coast and island, each bay and strait, is 
connected with some incident in the life- story of the 
discoverer or of his successors. Interest is thus given to 
what would otherwise be a mere list of names, and life 
is breathed into the inorganic mass. A knowledge of 
the lives of John Davis and of his immediate successors, 
requires an intimate acquaintance with Davis Strait and 
its shores, with the east and west coasts of Greenland, 
with Hudson's Strait and Bay, and with Baffin's Bay ; 
in short, with all the nearer regions of Arctic America. 
It is desirable that the student should be conversant 
with the achievements of Arctic worthies in other parts 
of the world; because he should contemplate the com- 
plete life-stories of his heroes, and thus realise how, and 
by the possession of what qualifications, their Arctic 
work was done. The thorough and complete grounding 
which such a study supplies, is the best preparation for 
an examination of the labours of modern explorers and 
of the results of their work, which will include the acqui- 
sition of an intelligent knowledge and appreciation of 
the geography of the whole Arctic Kegions. 



APPENDIX ON THE AUTHORITIES. 



The early years of John Davis were passed on the banks of 
the Dart. We derive some insight into this period of his life 
from Westcote's "Devonshire," from the parish, registers at 
Stoke Gabriel, from incidental notices in other county 
histories, and from the writings and will of Davis himself. 
A careful search through the municipal archives at Dart- 
mouth has failed to lead to the discovery of any notice of 
Davis, or of the fitting out of his expeditions in Dartmouth 
Harbour. Notices of the private afi'airs of Davis are given 
in documents preserved in the State Paper Office. 

Soaie particulars respecting the preparations for the first 
Arctic voyage are to be found in the journal of Dr. Dee, and 
in the Minute Book of the Elizabethan Guild of the City of 
Exeter. The narrative of the first Arctic voyage of Davis 
was written by John Janes ; that of the second voyage by 
Davis himself, with a supplementary journal of the proceed- 
ings of the Sunshine by Henry Morgan. The story of the 
third voyage is by John Janes, and the traverse or log book 
kept by Davis has been preserved. The whole were published 
by Hakluyt in his collections of voyages and travels. Davis 
reviewed the results of his three Arctic voyages in his 
" World's Hydrographical Discovery." The discoveries of 
Davis, with some additional names, are shown on the Moly- 
neux Globe. 

We only know the name of the vessel on board of which 
Davis served in the fleet which defeated the Spanish Armada ; 
and facts relating to his service in the Azores under the Earl 
of Cumberland, are derived from the nairative of Edward 



268 APPENDIX ON THE AUTHORITIES. 

Wriglit. Incidental statements of Sir William Monson, of 
Sir Robert Dudley, and of Davis himself, prove that he 
served under the Earl of Essex at Cadiz, and in the Azores. 
The thrilling tale of Davis's command of the Desire in the last 
expedition of Cavendish, is told by his old friend John 
Janes ; and a few additional facts are supplied by the letter 
of Cavendish written on his deathbed, and by the extra- 
ordinary story of Knivet. 

Much light is thrown on the attainments and character of 
Davis by his own works, entitled the "Seaman's Secrets," and 
the "World's Hydrographical Discovery." 

The narrative of the voyage to India in the Dutch Fleet 
was written by Davis himself, that of the first voyage sent out 
by the East India Company by an unknown hand, and that 
of the voyage of the Tiger apparently by Sir Edward Michel- 
borne. The Sailing Directions from Achen to Priaman and 
Tiku by John Davis, are preserved among the Sloane MSS. 
in the British Museum. 

Prince, in his " Worthies of Devon," was the first to write a 
notice of the life of Captain John Davis of Sandridge ; but 
he confused him with another John Davis of Limehouse, a 
younger man, whose life can easily be traced in Purchas, and 
who died in 1622. Prince was ignorant of the voyage of 
Michelborne, and consequently knew nothing of the time and 
place of the death of John Davis of Sandridge. Dr. Kippis, 
in the Biographia Britannica, repeats most of the blunders 
of Prince ; but, at the same time, he perceived that there 
must have been two Davises, for he had learnt the particulars 
of the death of John Davis of Sandridge from " Harris's 
Voyages," and if he was killed in 1605, Dr. Kippis saw that 
he could not have written a "Rutter" dated 161 8, which is 
given in Purchas and attributed to a John Davis. In spite 
of the warning thus thrown out by Dr. Kippis, Sir John 
Barrow repeated all the blunders of Prince, and was equally 
ignorant of the time and place of Davis's death, although they 
are given by Harris and Kippis. Mr. Bolton Corney, in 
Notes and Queries, pointed out most of the blunders of Prince 
and Barrow. Mr. Froude, in an article entitled " England's 



APPENDIX ON THE AUTHOEITIES. 269 

Forgotten Worthies," published in 1852, and reprinted in 
1858, in his book called "Short Studies on Great Subjects," 
repeated all the old blunders, and added- fresh ones. The 
warnings of Dr. Kippis and Mr. Bolton Corney render the 
inaccuracies and misleading statements of Mr. Fronde alto- 
gether inexcusable. Mr. Fox Bourne, in a uork entitled 
"English Seamen under the Tudors," published in 1868, 
gives a brief but correct account of the life of Davis. In 1880 
the Hakluyt Society issued a volume containing the texts of 
the works, and of all the narratives of the voyages of John 
Davis, with an introduction, notes, and a critical review of 
previous notices of the great navigator, by Commodore Mark- 
ham. The notice of Davis, in the " National Biography," is 
by Professor Laughton. 



OBEX. 



(Abbreviations :— -E.I.C for East India Company. 
Passage.) 



liM.F. for North- West 



PAGE 

Abdalla, Malay officer who boarded 

the Dutch ships . . .190 

Abrolhos rocks 186 

Achen, in Sumatra, arrival of Dutch 

ships 188 

kings of, 189 ; received Davis . 190 
treacherous attack on Dutch 

ships . . . .190, 191 
letter from Queen Elizabeth 

to king of , . . .199 
arrivalof E.I.C. ships . .204 
interview of Captain Lancaster 

with king of . . . . 205 
treaty with English . 205, 206 
king of, reply to the Queen's 

letter 206 

civil war 217 

(See Pepper.) 
Acosta, history of the Indies, trans- 
lated by Liiischoten . . 183 
Acuna, Rodiigo de, Captain in the 

fleet of Loaysa . . . 96 
Adams, Clement, map of Sebastian 

Cabot, by . . . .15 
Adams, of "Wadditon, married to 

Cecilia Fulford . . .11 
Adams, Luke, a seaman in Davis's 

first Arctic voyage . . 36 
Aden, Baffin at ... , 162 
Agra (see Akbar) .... 195 
" Aid," ship lent to Frobisher I y 

the Queen . . . .22 
Queen's ship, Capt. J. Fenner 75 
Capt. Fenner in command , 76 



PAGB 

Akhar, Ralph Fitch at the court of, 

at Agra 195 

Alcazova, Simon de, expedition of 98 
Alfonso the Wise, tables of . . 143 
Almagest (see Ptolemy). 
Almanac of Regiomontanus 143, 144 

(See Epliemeris.) 
Alonzo, Hernando, pilot of Sar- 

mieuto 105 

Altitude of the sun, observation . 144 
latitude found by . . . ItJl 

(See Astrolabe, Cross-Staff.) 
America, proofs of the insularity 

of 26, 170 

discovered by Norsemen 14, 68 
Amirante shoal .... 188 
Amsterdam, ships despatched from, 

to the north . . . 182, 18S 
Hudson's third voyage from . 228 
Anchor Rock in the Dart . . 6 

Andalusia, squadron of, in the 

Spanish Armada . . .73 
Angelica growing in Greenland . 252 
Angosturas or " Narrows " in Ma- 
gellan's Strait . . . 101 
scheme of Sarmiento to build 

forts in 106 

description .... 121 
" Ann Francis," ship in Frobisher's 

third Arctic voyage . . 23 
" Ann Royal," Baffin's ship, in his 

first voyage to India . . 262 

" ^nfeio^je," Queen's ship . . 76 

Sir Henry Palmer, off Calais . 76 



271 



272 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Antongil, in Madagascar, E.I.C. 

fleet at 203 

*' Anunciada" shS.^ in tlie fleet of 

Lo..ysa . . . . .96- 
Apianus, his opinion on the insu- 
larity of America . .' 25 
Arab astronomers (see Alfonso). 
Araucanians, death of Valdivia in 

battle with . . . 98, 99 
Archangel, Me'.chior Moucheron, 

founder of ... . 181 
Arctic men serving in the fleet 
which repulsed the Spanish 

Armada 75 

Arctic expeditions to the north- 
east, . . .17, 182, 183 
of Frobi>her ... 20, 24 
of Davis . . 12, 3i-52, 53-71 
of Hudson . . .229 233 
of Button .... 234, 235 
of Bylot and Baffin . . 236, 237 
of James and Fox . . 238-247 
Danish voyages to Greenland . 249 
Hall's voyage to Green- 
land .... 250, 251 
Baffin's voyages . . 250-261 
(See North- West Passage.) 
Arctic regions, described by Davis 6^, 66 
results of labours of Davis 68, 69 
Davis on the . . . 173, 175 

study of 266 

(See Greenland, Spitzhergen, 
Ice, North- West Passage, 
Novaya Zemlya.) 
"Ark Roy 0.1," warship built by Sir 

J. Hawkins . . . .74 
flagsliip of the Lord Admiral . 75 
in Plymouth fcound . . .77 
attacked the Spanish ship 

''Rata," 78 

engaged the Spanish fleet ; loss 
of rudder . . . .79 

at Cadiz 176 

Armada (ste Spanish Fleet). 
Ascension Island, Dutch ships at . 193 
sighted by the " Tiger" . . 215 
Ascension Isles on Spanish charts, 

not the Falkland Isles . . 127 
"Ascension" ship in the first 

E.I.C. voyage . . .197 
captain killed by accident , 203 
cargo of pepper at Achen ► 206 



PAGE 

Ashley, Sir Anthony, translated 

Wagenaar's work . . . 1S3 
Astrolabe adapted for use at sea, by 

Behaira . . . .88, 144 
improvements of Blagrave and 

Huod 153 

desciibed by D.ivis . . . 160 
Atlantis, Gilbert's argument de- 
rived from . . . .25 
Azores, Earl of Cumberland's expe- 
dition . . . .82, 223 
names of islands . . 83,84 
"Idand Voyage" to . . 177 



Bacalaos (see Neicfoundland). 
Back-staff, or Davis's quadrant, in- 
vention . . . 165, 168, 223 

description . . . . Ib6 

Bacon, Lord 4 

Baffin, William, lighted into his 

bay by Davis . .71, 226 
(See Sanderson's Hopf.) 

with Bylot in Hudson's Strait 

236, 255 

observed a lunar in Hudson's 
Strait .... 237, 261 

return from Hudson's Bay . 238 

notice of . . . . 248, 249 

went to Greenland with Cap- 
tain Hall . . . .250 

astronomical observations in 
Greenland . . . 250, 251 

h s narrative of Hall's voyage 251 

pilot of the " Tiger " in the 
Spitzbergen voyage . . 252 

his observation for refraction 253 

wrote the narrative of Joseph's 
Spitzbergen voyage . . 253 

explored the northern coast 
of Spitzbergen . . . 254 

pilot with ByloD in the " Dis- 
covery" 256 

his "Brief Relation" in Purchas 256 

intercourse witli Eskimos at 
Women Islands . . . 253 

discovery of Baffin's Bay, 239, 260 

mentioned the discoveries of 
Davis with respect . . 260 

review of his scientific obser- 
vations 261 

entered the service of the E.I.C. 261 



INDEX. 



273 



PAGE 

Bofffin, William, scheme to make 

the N.W.P. by the Pacific . 262 
master of the E.I.C. ship 

'^Anne Royal" . . .262 
surveys in the Red Sea . . 262 
master of the ^'London" . 2t>3 
in command of the " Loyido'ii" 264 
death at Kishm . . . 265 

Baffin's Bay 259 

discovery .... 259, 260 
Baffin Island named by Sir Edward 

Parry 237 

Baffin Islands 258 

Bake)', Christopher, in command of 

the " toresight " . . .76 
Balboa, Vasco Nunez de, discovery 

of the Soutii Sea . . .93 
Ball, Mr., joined in seudingf Cap- 
tain Hall to Greenland . 250 
Ball's River in Gi-eenland . . 252 

Bandar Abbas 264 

Bantamm.Ja.va, E.I.C. fleet at 20i?, 207 
" Tiger " at . . . . 217 
Barents, Wm., Medina's Navigation 

found at the winter quarters of 151 
voyages of .... 182 

death 1S3 

discoveries on the Molyneux 

globe 167 

Barke of Lime, Captain Markes- 
bury, consort of Davis in the 
Azoi-e expedition . . 82, 83 
Barker, Andrew, with Captain Hall 

in Greenland . . . 250 
succeeded to the command on 
deaihof HaU . . .251 
Bame, Alderman . . . .29 
Barrow, Sir John, repeated the mis- 
ti\ke of Prince in his account 
of Davis . . . .268 

BasingHoke, birthplace of Sir J. 

Lancaster .... 195 
Basque Provinces, voyages of sailors 

to Newfoundland . . .16 
sailors ex perienced in catching 

whales 38 

sailors of, the chief reliance of 

the Spanish navy . . .72 
ships of, in theSpitzbergen seas 252 
(See Cano, Biscuyans, Guipuzcan.) 
Satfif Isle of, oflF Sumatra, " Tiger " 

anchored at . . . . 216 



PAGE 

Beale, Mr., house of, meeting to 

discuss Arctic matters at 14, 17, 
20, 25, 29 
" Bear," Queen's ship (see " White 
Bear "). 

Bears, Polar 42 

Bedford, Captain, R.N., reference 

tohis "Sailor's Pocket-Book " 162 
Beeston, Sir George, in command of 

the " D-readnought " .76 

Bthaim, Martin, inventor of the 

astrolai^e used at sea . . 143 

settled at Fayal, in the Azores 88 

his globe . . . 144 and note 

Belleislc Strait, discovered byCartier 16 

Davis off 50 

Bengal 15 

Bennett, the cook, in Hudson's last 

voynge, mutineer. . . 231 

a survivor 2^3 

Berehaven, arrival of Davis at . 138 
Bergenop Zoom (.-ee Willoughby, Lord). 
Best, George, Frobislier's lieuttnant 

in iiis Arctic voyage . 22, 23 
Best, Captain, founded the first 

E.I.C. factory in India. .209 
Bideford, the BorougLis natives of 4 
Bilbao, ships of the Spanish ilcet 

built at 72 

Bintang Island, John Davis buiied 

in sight of . . . .221 
Biscayan squadron, under Juan 

Martinez de Recalde .• . 72 
Blackaller, Mr., of Dartnioutli, 

Davis to appear at house of . 138 
" Black Pinnace " in second vo,\ age 

of Cavendish .... 116 
at Port Desire .... 113 
remained with Davis . . 124 
collecting seals at Penguin 

IsLind 126 

lost with all hands . . . 131 
" Black Dog," Davis in command, 

tender to the Lord Admiral 75, 77 
in the fleet opposing the Spa- 
nish Armada . . .79, 80 
Blagrave, J., his improvements in 

the astrolabe and cro.ss-staff 153 
Blithe, Captain, of the "Hart," 

E.I.C. voyage . . .263 
succeeded Shilling in com- 
mand of the fleet . . .264 



274 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

BlundeviUe, Exercises . . . 153 
published a table of meridional 

parts 155 

his treatise on the Molyneux 

globe 167 

Boroughs, the, of Bideford . . 4 
Stephen, voyage to the Kara 
Sea . . . . 17,171 
suggested a translation of 
Cortes . . . ,152 

William, work on terrestrial 
magnetism . . 69,153 
Bourchier, Lady Dorothy, wife of 

Sir John Fulford ... 8 
Bourne, Mr. Fox, biography of Davis 269 
Bourne, "Regiment of the Sea," 
first original English work 
on navigation . . . 152 
heaving the log first described 

by 153, 161 

Bozoin, Sir John, marriageof heiress 

withFulf-.rd. ... 8 
Bozomzele, seat of Sir John Fulford 8, U 
Brand, Wni., captain of ^'Ascen- 
sion," first E.I.C. voyage . 197 
killed by accident at Antongil 203 
Brandon Hill, burial-place at Cai>- 

tain James's winter quarters 246 
Brazil, coast of . . 98, 107, 108 
Lopez Vaz captured by English 

on coast 109 

Davis on coast of . . 117,136 
Cavendish resolved to return 

to 123, 124 

attack on Pernambuco by Lan- 
caster 196 

Bridgeicater , Busse of (see Emma'). 
Brlggs, Henrj', work on logarithms 164 
patron of Fox's expedition . 239 
referred to Baffin's plan to dis- 
cover the N'.W.P. . . .262 
** Briggs his Mathematics," island 

named by Fox . , .241 
Bnstol, voyages to Ic;'land from . 15 
Merrick's voyage from . 112, 113 
Captain James fitted out at . 238 
Broken Point, Hudson's Strait, Baf- 
fin at 237 

Brooke Place in Sutton-at-Home, 

home of Sir T. Smith . . 196 
Brooke, Sir John, patron of Fox's 

voyage 239 



PAGE 

Brooke Cohharn Island, nameu by- 
Fox 241 

Bruton, William, captain of the 

"Moonshine" . . .33 

at Gilbert Sound ... 41 

master of the ' ' Elizabeth " . 54 

landed the dogs for coursing . 61 

Burney, Admiral, defence of Davis 

against Cavendish . . 124 
proposed name of Davis for 
Fiilkland Isles , . .127 
Busse of Bridge water, in Fro- 

bisher's third voyage . . 23 
sunken land of . . . .24 
Button, Sir Thomas, expedition to 
complete the work of Hud- 
sou 234 

notice of 234 

winter quarters and disco- 
veries .... 235, 265 
subsequent career . . . 235 
particulars of his voyage, given 

by Fox 239 

Button Island, on which is Cape 

Chidley 235 

Bylot, Robert, with Hudson in his 

last voyage . . . .229 
appointed mate by Hudson . 230 
took Hudson's ship home . 233 
in Button's voyage . . . 234 
master of the "Discovery" with 
Baffin . . . 236, 237, 256 
Bylot, Cape, named by Sir Edward 

Parry 237 

Byron, Commodore, measurement 

of a tree in Magellan's Strait 121 

Cabot, John, voyage . . . 15 
Sebastian, loss of his papers, 

map at Whitehall . . . 15 
Governor of Comi)any of Mer- 
chant Ad venturers . . 16 
log-book introduced by . .16 
evidence of his voyage, for a 

N.W.P, 26 

Cadiz, expedition of the Earl of 

Essex . . , 176, 177, 223 
Carres at Saldanha (Table) Bay . .186, 
187, 202 
Calais, squadron under Lord E. 

Seymour off . . . 76, 79 
English and Spanish fleets off 79, 80 



INDEX. 



275 



PAGE 

Calais, ship of Hugo de Mongada 

lost at 80 

Callao, expedition of Sarmiento 

fitted out at . . . . 105 
Cam, Diogo, Behaim m expedition 

of, 143 

Cambodia 218 

Camden, John 4 

at Oxford with Raleigh . . 11 
names of vohinteers agaiust 

the Spanish fleet, in . .74 
death of " Cockus Anglus"in 
action, recorded . . . 79 
Canary Isles .... 117, 200 
Cano, Sebastian del, first circum- 
navigator . . .72, 95 
in Magellan's fleet . , .94 
chief pilot in tlie fleet of Loaysa 96 

death 97 

Carneiro, Cerro de, hill above Horta, 

in Fayal 86 

Carter, Mark, master of the " Sun- 
shine" 44 

Cartier, Jacques, discovery of Strait 

of Belleisle ... 16, 26 
Cary, Ahcyn, ship's husband for the 

*^ Discovei-;/" . . . 259 
Sir George, provided ordnance 

for Cavendish . . . 116 
of Cockington, friend of Caven- 
dish 116 

Thomas, of Gary Barton (see 

Fulford, Eliz.) 
Islands, in Baffin's Bay . . 259 
Castilian Admiral, Diego Flores 

de Valdez .... 73 
Cathay (see China). 
Catskill Mountains, sighted by 

Hudson 228 

Cavendish, Tliomas, 4, 92, 214, 268 
notice of, voyage of circum- 
navigation . . . 109, 110 
abandoned settlers in Magel- 
lan's Strait . . . .110 
his character . . . 112, 118 
second voyage . . . 113, 114 
sailed from Plymouth . .116 
guest of Davis . . . 119, 120 
vacillation and want of hu- 
manity .... 123, 124 
parted company with Davis, 
death 124 



PAGE 

Cavendish, Thomas, false accusa- 
tions agaiust Davis . 124, 158 
anxiety of Davis to rejoin 125, 126, 
129 
letter in Purchas . , . l:-9 
aciompanied by Hues . . 156 
track round the world on 
Molyneux globe . . . 167 
Ceijlon . . . . . 192, 193 
Chagos Archipelago . . 2 )3, 216 

"Challenger " H.M.S., visit to Fer- 
nando Noronlia . . . 215 
Chancellor, Richard, his cross-staff 13 

voyage of 16 

Channel, British, chart of, by 

Davis . . . .77, 162 
Charing Cross, name given by Fro- 

bisher, on Greenland coast . 23 
Charles V. approved the scheme of 

Magellan . , . .93 
" diaries," William Monson serv- 
ing on board . . . .76 
" Charles," ship of Luke Fox . . 239 

beset 241 

in Hudson's Strait . . .243 
Charlton Island, winter quarters of 

Captain James . . . 246 
Charts, ])lane, sources of errors 146, 150 
Mercator's, of the woi-ld . . 147 
Davies, his chart of the British 

Channel . . .77, 162 
Davis on sea charts . . .161 
Baffin's, of Hudson's Strait . 255 
(See Mercator, Wright.) 
Chaves, Spanish writer on naviga- 
tion ..... 150 
Chesapeake Bay, visited by Hudson 228 

Chidley, Cape 70 

found to be an Ireland . . 235 

named by Davis . . .62 

sighted by Fox . .240, 247 

(See Chudleigh.) 

Chile, conquered by Valdivia . . 98 

(See St. Maria.) 
Chiloe, coast defined by LadriUeros 99 
CAina, shorter route to . . 17,33 
(See North-West Passage.) 
piracies on the coast . . 218 
Chinese geographers, as to the 

trend of their coast . . 26 
Chonos Archipelago, discovered by 

Lsidrilleros .... 99 



276 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Chonos Archipelago explored by 

Sarmiento . . . .106 

Christian IV., of Denmark, des- 
patched Hall to Gieeiiland . 249^ 

" Christopher," pinnace in Drake's 

fleet 101 

Chudleigh (or Chidley), John, of 

Broad Clyst .... 4 
friend of Davis ... 34, 36 
voyage to Magellan's Strait, 
and death . . , 112, 114 

Churchill's Voyages, narrative of 

Hall's voyage to Greenland, in 250 

Churchward, family of, at Stoke 

Gabriel 54 

John, in Davis's third Arctic 

voyage 55 

reports a leak in the "Ellen " , 56 

CJiurruca, Puerto de, in Magellan's 

Strait, Davis at . , . 128 

Clements, Francis, a mutineer 

against Hudson . . 232, 233 

Cleves, Duke of, patron of Mercator 147 

^^ Clifford," ship sent by the Earl 
of Cumberland to the South 
Sea 109 

Cloves, E.I.C. ships larleii with . 206 

Clusius, his account of Winter's 

bark 102 

Cockayne, Sir Wm., patron of Hall's 

voyage to Greenland . . 250 

Cockayyie (Cockin) Sound, in Green- 
land, Baffin at . 250, 257, 260 

Cocke, Captain, of the " Roebuck," 

in voyage of Cavendish . 116 
his attack on Santos . . 117 

" Cockiis Anglus," slain fighting the 

Spanish ships . . .79 

Cod ^s/ie)^/ off Labrador . . 49,52 
Davis sent two ships to . 57, 63 
(See Neiefoundland.) 

Colgnet, Michael, editor of work of 

Medina 151 

(See Medina.) 

Collins, William, mate in Hudson's 

ship 227 

Cohimbus, America discovered be- 
fore the time of . . .15 
Behaim a contemporary of . 88 
search for a passage into the 
South Sea since the third 
voyage of . . . .98 



TAGE 

Columbus, first observed fur varia- 
tion of the compass . . 145 
Comfort, Cape, named by Baffin . 237 
Comoro Isles, Dutch at . . . 188 
Compass first used by Gioja . . 145 

variation 145 

sea and paradoxal . . . 160 
variation to be observed . . 161 
(See Magnetic, Dip, Vario.- 
tion.) 
Compton, an estate of the Gilberts 9 
" Content," ship in the first voyage 

of Cavendish . . . 109 

Cook, Captain, exploded the theory 

of a great southern continent 98 

Coney Island 215 

Comey,'M.r. Bolton, corrected errors 

in biographies of Davis . 268 
Corsini, Italian mercliant, lawsuit 

respecting a prize . . .88 
Cortereal, G^spar, voyage of . 15, 63 
Cortes, Martin, Spanish work on 

navigjition .... 151 
English translation . . . 152 
Coruna, fleet of Loaysa fitted out 

at .94 

Corvo, Anton Pablos, pilot of Sar- 
miento 103 

Co?"yo, one of the Azores. . . 82 
Cotton, Captain Randolph, of the 

"Dainty" . . . .110 
deserted by his ship ; guest of 

Davis 118 

signed the document at Port 

Desire 126 

in personal danger . . . 134 
sufferings on the homeward 

voyage 137 

Coices, " Tiger " s&iled. irora . . 214 
" Crescent," ship fitted out at Dart- 

naouth, against the Armada 75 
Cross-staff, Ciiancellor's, preserved 

by Dr. Dee .... 13 
first described by Werner 144,145 
constructed by Sarmiento, to 

subtend a large angle . . 152 
improvements by Blagrave and 

Hood 153 

described by Davis . . 160, 161 
(See Back-Staff.) 
Cross, Sir Robert, in command of 

the "Hope" . ... 76 



INDEX. 



277 



PAGE 

Crosse, William, gunner in Davis's 

first Arctic voyage . 33, 86 
Cmnberla> d, George Clifford, Earl 

of, friend of Davis . . 35 
commanding the "Elizabeth 

BonaiiC'ttm-e" . . . 75 
expedition to tiie Azores 81. 82, 223 
capture of prizes . 82, S3, 89, 90 
rescue of an English boat's 

crew off Terceira ... 85 
his capture of Horta . . 86 
worked at tiie capstan himself 88 
attem[)t to obtain water at 

Graciosa . . . .88 
sufferings on tlio i-etuni voyage 90 
fitted out an expeaitiou to the 

South Sea . . . .109 
sold a ship to tlie E.I.C. . . 197 
Cumberland Gulf named by Davis ; 

explored . . 43, 49, 61, 69 

Currently East Greenland . . 66 

in Mage.lan's Straits . . 121 

*' Dainty," ship owned by Davis 

and Gilbert . . . .116 
deserted and went home 118, 119 

(See Cotton, Captain R.) 
IkLrcy, of Chiche, Lord, friend of 

Davis . . . . .35 
Darcy Ishind, named by Davis . 62 
Mr. J mcs linded on, after a 

stsxg . . . 62,63 

Dart, river, descii|>tion of the reach 

near Sandiidge ... 6 
excursions of Gilberts, Raleigh, 

and Davis on . . 7, 12 
Dartmouth . . . . . 4, 6 
exour-ions of Davis and Ijis 

f riend.s to . . . .7 
great resort of sailors ; St. 

Petrox Church ... 7 
Davis urged merchants of, to 

join in his enterprise . . 80 
expedition of Davis fitted out at 32 
first Arctic expedition sailed 

from , 33 

second Arctic expedition sailed 

from 44 

third Arctic expedition sailed 

from 55 

two ships fitted out against 

the Spanish Armada . . 77 



PAGE 

Dartmouth, Spanish ship captured 

and towed into . . .78 
Henry Hudson arrived at . 228 
Baffin in, with " Discovery " . 257 
entrance to, mentioned in 
Davis's Sailing Directions . 217 
Davis, Arthur, son of John ; be- 
quest to . . . .213 
Bdward . . . . 4,6 
bequest to ... . 213 
Faith (see Fulford.) 
Gilbert, son of John, birth . 11 

John 2, 4 

birth at Sandx-idge . . 4 

home of 5 

excursions to Dartmouth . 7 
visits to Bozomzele . . 8 
marriage . . . 9, 11 
education .... 9 
early service .at sea . . 9 
conferences with Dr. Dee . 12 
friendship for Adrian Gil- 
bert . . . . 11, 12 
conference with Secretary 

Wa singham . . 14 to 29 
his view of Arctic geography 25 
interview with Loudon mer- 
chants . . . 29, 30 
charter granted to him, 

Raleigh, and Gilbert . 31 
fitting out at Dartmouth 32,44,55 
qualifications ; educ-ition and 

friendships . . 34, 35 

arrange ni en ts on board the 

" Sun.-hiiie " . , .36 
surveying at the Scilly Isles 37 
went away in a boat, to re- 

coimoitre ice . . . 38 
friendly intercourse with 

Eskimos . . .41, 4o 
increased allowance of pro- 
visions ... 39, 42 
discoveries ; return from fh-st 

Arctic voyage , . .43 
fits out the second Arctic 

expedition . . .44 
con.structed an E.skimo vo- 
cabulary . . . .47 
decision after an interview 

with his men . . .48 
return f i om the second Arc- 
tic voyage . . . .51 



278 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Davis, John, satisfie>l with results 52 
third Arctic expedition 53, 65 
continued exploring work 

in the "Ellen" . . 57, 58 
discovery of Sanderson's 

Hope 68 

his magnetic observations . 69 
seamanship in the Middle 

Pack 60 

his description of the ap- 
proach to Hudson's Strait 62 
return from the third Arc- 
tic expedition . . .63 
piiblication of narratives of 

his voyages . . 63, 225 
results of his Arctic work 64, 
69, 70 
extent of coast-line defined 

by 66 

notes on animal life in Green- 
land 67 

exploration of Davis Strait . 69 
investigations into nature of 

ice 69 

examination of openings to 

westwai'd ... .69 
L brad or coast explored . 70 
war services . . . .72 
command of "Black Dog" 75, 77 
services against the Spanish 

Armada . . 78, 79, 80 

at home when his fourth 

child was born . , . 81 
fits o)xt the " Drake " for the 

Azores . . . .82 
joined the Earl of Cumber- 
land 83 

met Edward Wright at Fayal 87 
fired upon wlien atteiDptiug 

to get water . . .88 
attack on St. Mary's ; rf turn 

hom^; 89 

prize-money ... 90, 91 
crui-e wii h Captains Middle- 
ton and Harvey . . 91 
lawsuit respecting pi-izes . 91 
plan to discover N.W.P. 

from the Pacific . . 92 
in consultation respecting 

the Pacific voyage . . 93 
arguments for an attempt 
on the Pacific side . . 104 



PAGE 

Davis, John, consented to join 

Cavendish .... 114 
agreement with Cavendish 

as to the N.W.P. project , 116 
took command of the 

"Desire" .... 116 
at Sandridge with his wife 

for the last time . . 116 
at Port Desire ; sailed for 

Magellan's Strait . .120 
abandoned by Cavendish . 121 
refitting at Port Desire . 125 
document prepared at Poi-t 

Desire . . .125, 126 

discoveredthe Falkland Isles 127 
speech to the master . 129, 130 
anxiety to rejoin Caven- 
dish .... 125, 128 
his despondency . . .131 
surveys in Magellan's Strait 133 
address to disaffected men . 134, 
135 
provisions for homeward 

voyage . . . . 136 
hopes shattered , . . 136 
sufferings on homeward voy- 
age in "Desire" . 137, 138 
seduction of his wife . . 138 
his arrest and acquittal . 1 39 
in retirement at Sandridge . 140 
" Seaman's Secrets " , .111 
definitions of kinds of navi- 
gation .... 160 
fi.nding latitude ; sea-charts 161 
his charts lost . . . 162 
on the use of globes . . 163 
invention of the back- 

stafi- . . , 165, 166, 168 
his work shown on Moly- 

neux globe . . . 167 
valuable work in his retire- 
ment 168 

his " World's Hydrographi- 

cal Discovery " . . . 169 
review of his Arctic 

work .... 173, 1 75 
ship captured . . .176 
served under Es^ex at 

Cadiz .... 178 
proceeded to Zeeland . . 184 
pilot in Dutch expedition . 185 
at Fernando Noronba • , 185 



INDEX. 



279 



PAGE 

Davis, John, on conduct of Dutch 

in Saldanha Bay . . 187 
hydrogi'aphical notes dur- 

ing Dutch voyage . . 188 
received by the King of 

Achen . . . .190 

his defence of the Dutch 

ship .... 191, 223 
his narrative of the Dutch 

voyage .... 194 
pilot of the "Dragon," E.I.C. 

ship 199 

at Sandridge . . , .200 
on treatment of natives in 

Table Bay . . . .202 
skill as a navigator . . 203 
navigation of coast of Suma- 
tra ... . 206 
services to the E. I. C. . 210 
engaged to marry Judith 
Havard . . . .212 

his will 213 

joined the " Tiger " as pilot 214 
sailing directions for Su- 
matra 217 

his neglect to disarm pirates 219 

murder 220 

buried in the Straits of Ma- 
lacca 221 

review of his career; char- 
acter . . . . 222, 223 
writings .... 225 
his routes for further dis- 
covery . . . 226, 265 
mentioned with respect by 



biographies . . . 268, 269 
John, of Limehouse . . . 263 
Davy, Henry, gunner, the first expe- 

diiion of Davis . . 33, 36 
Dawson, Thomas, printer of works 

of Davis . . . 158, 169 

Dee, Dr., conferences with, re- 
specting the N.W.P. . 12, 13 
his library at Mortlake . . 13 
promoter of Frobisher's voy- 



conference with Secretary 

Walshigham . . . 15 to 29 
left England . . .30, 31 
treatises of, on navigation . 153 
notices of Davis in his diary . 268 



PAGE 

"Delight" of Bristol, ship in Chud- 

leigh's expedition . . 112 

Denmark (see Christian IV.) 

Depiford, the Queen dined on 

board iJriike's ship at . . 103 
Fox sailed from . . . 240 

Deseado, Cape, named by Magellan 95 

"Desire," ship in the first voyage 

of Cavendish . . . .109 
commanded by Davis . . 115 
unsatisfactory crew , . . 116 
mutiny ..... 125 
refitted at Port Desire . . 125 
entered the Pacific . . . 129 
weathered Cape Pillar . . 132 
voyage home . . . 137, 13S 
form of the log of . . . 163 

Desire, Port, in Patagonia, dis- 
covered by Cavendish . . 110 
Merrick's ship anchored at . 113 
Davis refitting at . . 120, 135 
description .... 120 
Hues and Davies meet at . 156 

Desolation, Land of (see Green- 
land) . . . 39, 51 

Diego Garcia, Island . . . 216 

Digges, Sir Dudley; Habakkuk 

Prickett, his servant . . 229 
patron of Baffin's voyage . 256 

Digges, Cape Dudley, in Baffin's 

Bay 259 

Digges, Cape, in Hudson's Strait ; 

myri.ids of birds . 229, 230, 238 
mutineers of Hudson's ship 

land at 232 

Button's ships at . . . 234 

Baffin off 238 

Captain James off . . . 238 
sighted by Fox . . . 241 

Di^ of the magnetic needle . 59,153 
observed by Baffin . . .261 

Discm-d, Cape, sighted by Davis . 39 

" Discovery," ship of Hudson . . 228 
sailed from Greenhithe . . 229 
wintered, with Hudson, in 

James Bay . . . .229 
left winter quarters . . 230 

mutiny 231 

off Cape Digges . . .232 
voyage home with survivors . 233 
in Button's expe lition . . 234 
commanded by Gibbons . . 236 



280 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

" Discovery," Bylot and Baffin in 

Hudson's Strait . . . 236 
Baffin's Baj' discovered . 255, 267 
off Smith's bouud . . .29 

return 260 

DUtisham, on tlie Dart . . . 6, 8 
Doughty, Master, in Drake's fleet, 

beheaded .... 101 
Dragon (see lied Dragon.) 
Drake, Sir Francis .... 4 
in command of the " Revenge" lb 
Vice-Adrairal of the Fleet . 76 
ship of Valdez sun-endered to 78 
attacked the Spanish fleet . 80 
his knowledge of Magellan's 

voyage 100 

liis circumnavigation . 101, 172 
in Mage'lan's Stiuit; sighted 

C;ipe Horn . . . .102 
discoveries on the west coast 

of North America . . .103 
his track on the Molyneux 

globe 167 

*' Dreadnought," Q\H'Q\\'ssi\n\) . 75 
Di-irnys Winteri (Winter's Bark) . 103 
Drogeo, on tlje Zeno map . 19, 20 
Dudley, Sir Robert, mention of 

Davis by ... . 268 
Duffryn, home of Sir J. Button . 234 
2>wf«6u?-^, residence of Mercator . 147 
Dunkirk, Duke of PaiToa at . .73 

Dursey Head 44 

i.«Liud 233 

Dutch, their first voyage to the 

East Indies . , . .182 
voyages for the North-East 

Passage . . . . 182, 1S3 
second voyage to the Eiist 

Indies .... 184, 185 
want of di.-^cipline . . . 186 
quarrel with. Caffres, at the 

Cape 187 

arrival at Achen . . .188 
attac.ed by the Achenefie 190, 191 
return voyage . . . 192, 193 
services of Davis to . . . 194 
Dyer, Sir Ed war i, patron of Davis 34 
Dyer, Cape, named by Davis . . 42 

*' Eagle," BXC. shiY* . . .263 

East India Company . . ,194 

Sir J. Smitli, founder of . . 196 



PAGE 

East India Company, incorpora- 
tion ; first voyage. . .197 
fitting out the first fleet . . 198 
first fleet sailed . . .199 

voyage 200 

scurvy 201 

at Table Bay . . . . 2!a 
intercoui'se with Caffres . . 202 
arrival at Achen . . . 204 
tieaty .... 205, 206 
Sumatra coast and Bantam 206, 207 
stormy voyage home . . 207 

return 209 

second voyage under Middle- 
ton 209 

services of Lancaster and Davis 

to 210, 213 

future greatness of . . . 209 
Baffin entered service of . . 261 
seventh voyage . . . 262 
fleet under Captain Shilling . 262 
Eden, Richard, collection of voy- 
ages 114 

his translation of Cortes . . 152 
(See Cortes.) 
Edtca/rd IV. embarkci at Veere . 179 
" Edicard Bonaventuve,"'L».\\c:\RtQY's 
ship, in his first voyage to 
India ... . .195 
Eliot, Sir John, his praise of Queen 

Elizabeth .... 3 
beheld Raleigh's execution . 211 
^?2a6e</(, Queen, times of . .2,4 
worthies of . . . 2, 3, 4, 5 
Sir John Eliot's praise of . 3 
declared war on Spain . 32, 72 
Sir Fraicis Drake introdticed 

to 100 

diu'jd on board Drake's ship . 281 
generosity to Sarmiento . . lOS 
study of navigation in the days 

c.f 141 

two {Treat events at the close 

of lier reign .... 195 
her letter to the King of Achen 205 
her letter delivered to the King 

of Bantam . . . .206 
death . . . , .211 

^^ Elizabeth Bonaventure," Queens 

ship 74 

Earl of Cumberland i.i com- 
mand of . , . 75, 81 



INDEX. 



281 



PAGE 

"Elizabeth Jonas," Queen's ship, 

built by Sir J. Hawkins . 74 
Sir Robert Southwell, captain 

of 75 

in action 79 

** Elizabeth" vessel in Davis's third 

Arctic voyage . , .65 
sent to the cod fishery . 56, 63 
*' Elizabeth^" Winter's ship, in 

Drake's voyage . .11, 102 
Elizabeth Island, in Magellan's 

Strait . . , . .133 
Elizabethan Guild (see Exeter), 
'* Ellen," clincher in Davis's third 

Arctic voyage . . .54 
Davis continued his discoveries 

in 56 

off Sanderson's Hope . 58, 59 
in the middle pack . . .60 
struck on a rock; return to 
England . . . .63 
Ellis, John, master of the " Moon.' 

shine" ..... S3 
at Gilbert Sound ... 41 
*^ Emma," a busse of Bridge v?^ater, 

with Frobisher . . .23 
Enciso, Martin Fernandez, his work 

on navigation . . . 150 
English, Mr. (see Fulford, Anne). 
English fleet to resist the Spanish 

Armada 74 

weight of ordnance . . . 74 
new ships built by Sir John 

Hawkins . . . .74 
Queen's ships . . • T4, 75 
volunteers ; Lord Howard ad- 
miral . . . . .75 
captains ; fleet at Plymouth 75, 76 
admiral engaged Spanish rear 

ships 78 

in action veith Spaniards 79, 80 

victory 80 

Enkhuysen, home of Linschoten . 181 
Enriquez, Diego Tello de, command- 
ing the " San Juande Sicilia" 73 
Ephemeris of Staditis, used by Davis 161 
(See Abnana/;.) 

Eratosthenes 141 

calculation of the earth's cir- 
cumference .... 142 
Ereilla, epic poem of . . .98 
Erik Rada, discoverer of Greenland 68 



PAGE 

Eskimos, Frobisber's intercour.--e 

with 22 

friendly intercourse with Da- 
vis 41,46 

their misconduct . . 47, 56 
at Sukkertoppen . . .48 
intercourse with Captain Pope 51 
kiU the murderers of Hud- 
son .... 232, 233 
Captain Hall's account of .249 
murder of Captain Hall by . 251 
account of, by Baffin . 251, 258 
'^ Espeinnza," a ship in the exi)e- 

dition of Sarmiento . . 105 

disabled 107 

Essex, Earl of, expedition to Cadiz 

and Azores .... 177 
John Davis served under 178, 268 
proposed the Dutch voyage to 

Davis .... 178, 184 
letter of Davis to, after the 
Dutch voyage . . . 194 
Estoii, William, master of the ' 
shine" . 
survey of provisions by 
caught a porpoise 
went in a boat to reconnoitre ice 38 
intercourse with Eskimos . 40 
with Davis, in second Arctic 

voyage 44 

explored the fiord at Sukker- 
toppen 48 

Estoliland, on the Zeno map 19, 20, 24 
supposed to be Newfoundland 24 
Exeter, merchants of, join in the 

Arctic venture . • . 30, 33 
John Davy, mayor of . .36 
m erchants subscribe for second 

Arctic voyage 
mercliants fall off from the 
third voyage .... 
Elizsibetli, Guild of, entries as 
to Davis 
Eoceter Sound, on west coast of Davis 
Strait, named by Davis 



Sun- 
33,35 



. 37 



43 



53 



268 



42 



Falkland Islands, discovery by 

Davis 127 

other visits ; origin of the name 128- 
Falmouth, Davis puts into . . 37 
Famine, Port .... 104, 109 

last survivors of settlers . ill, 119 



282 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Famine, Fori , Davia at . . 122,123 

(See San Felipe. ) 

Fareioell, Cape . . . 21, ''G 

rounded by Davis . . .39 

name gi^eii by Davis . . 44 

rounded by Captdn Popo . 51 

sighted by BaflSn . . .236 

Fayal in the Azores , . .83 

description (see Horta) . . 84 

Martin Behaim settled at . 88 

Fenner, Captain, ii^ command of the 

^^ Nonpareil" . . . .76 
Edward, in command of the 

" Mary Rose " . . .76 
John, in command of the " ^iti " 76 
Fenton, Captain Edward, with Fro- 

bisher 23 

Fernando Noronha, the Dutch at, 

notice of . . . 185, 193 
vegetation .... 215 
Fire-ships sent against Simnish fleet 

oflf Calais ... 79, 80 
Fishery (see Cod fishery.) 
Fitch, Ralph, the first Englishman 

in India .... 195 
Fitz Roy, Admiral Robert, account 

of Magellan's Strait . * . 122 
Flamsteed, his improvement in Da- 
vis's back-staff . . .266 
Fleming, Captain, sighted the 

Spanish fleet . . . 77 
Fletcher, Mr. , historian of Drake's 
voyage, on the beauty of the 
scenery in Magellan's Strait 102 
his account of the virest coast 
of North America . . . 103 
Florence, galleon of, in the Spanish 

Armada 73 

Flores, Isle of, Earl of Cumberland at t^ 3 
Flushing, services of Sir Humphrey 

Gilbert at . . . 9, 180 
a cautionary town . . .179 
Dutch fleet for India sailed 

from 185 

" jForesijrAf, " Queen's ship . . 75 
Forster, naturalist in Cook's second 
voyage; fii-st to describe Win- 
ter's bark . . . .102 
Fotherby, Robert, master's mate 

with Baffin . . . .254 
■wrote the joiimal of the Spitz- 
bergen voyage . . . 255 



PAGE 

Fox, Luke, his opinion that Davis 

lighted Hudson into his st; ait 62 
mentions heaving the log . 153 
gave an account of Button's 

voyage 235 

notice of 238 

fitting out his N.W. expedition 240 
quotations from . 210, 2 a, 243 
meeting with Captain James . 242 
tidal observai ions . . . 243 
" his Farthest " . . .243 
return home .... 244 
discoveries .... 265 
Fox's Channel named by Sir Edward 

Parry 243 

Frampton, John, his translation of 

Medina's navigation . . 152 
Franklin, Sir John, followed one 
of the routes indicated by 
Davis ; reason of his failure 70 

Frio, Cape 117 

Frisland, visited by the Zeni . 19 
on the Zeno map . . 19, 20 
Frobisher's idea of . .20 to 23 
Frobisher, Sir Martin, Arctic 

voyages ... 20, 24, 65 
in command of the " Triumph " 75 

knighted 79 

Froude, Mr., mistakes in his bio- 
graphy of Davis . . .269 
Froward, Cape, in Magellan's Strait, 

named by Cavendish . Ill, 113 
Davis off . . . 122, 123, 128 

Frozen Strait 237 

Fulford, Andrew .... 8 
Adrian Gilbert married his 
widow ... 9; 11 
Anne ... . . 8 

man-ied Mr. English of 
Totnes .... 11 
Sir Baldwin, married the 
heiress of Bozomzele . 8 

Cecilia 8 

married Adams of Wadditon 11 

Elizabeth 8 

marr i ed Gary of Gary Barton 1 1 

Faith 8 

not mentioned in Herald's 

visitation .... 8 
married to John Davis . 11 
still fidthfnl .... 65 
seduced 138 



INDEX. 



233 



PAGE 

Fuller, Thomas, of Ipswich, with 

Cavendish . . . .10) 
'^Furious Overfall," shov^n on Moly- 

neux globe and new map . 168 
one of Davis's route for further 
discovery 226, 228, 229, 238, 247, 
265 

Fox at 240 

(See Hudson's Strait.) 

"Gabriel," Froblsher's ship in his 

Arctic voyage . . 21, 22 
Gali (or Be Gualle) Francisco, 

voyage across the Pacific . 104 
Gallego, Hernan and Pedro, pilots 

in expedition of Ladrilleros 99 
Gatonby, John, narrative of Hall's 

Greenland voyage . . 250 

GtUert, Jacques, of Flushing; 
daughter married to Ran- 
dolph . . . . 184 
Gemma Frisius on the ins\ilarity 

of America . . . . 25 
on the N.W. passage having 

been made . . . .27 
projKDsed method of finding 

longitude .... 145 
master of Gerard Mercator . 147 
Gibbons, Captain, relative of Sir 

T. Button .... 2.34 
"His Hole" . . . .236 
Gilbert Soxmd (Godthaab), named 

by Davis . . .40, 45 
Cap^ain Pope at . . .51 
Davis at . . . .57, 66 
Gilbert, Dr., of Colchester, on 

terrestrial magnetism . .154 

Gilbert family 4 

crest . . . . 10 

Adrian 7 

excursions to Dartmouth . 7 
visits to Bozornzele . . 8 
married to Fulford's widow 9, 
11, 12 
his attainments . . .10 
rented a hcu-se at Sand- 
ridge 11 

conferences with Dr. Dee 12, 14 

to 29 

assisting Davis . . 30, 32 

in consultation on the Pacific 

voyage . . 92, 114, 115 



PAGE 
Gilbert, Adrian, owned a ship 

jointly with Davis . . 115 

death 222- 

Hum-plirey . . . . 6, 12 

education, services . . 9 

discourse on the N.W.P. 9, 10, 

13, 24, 26 

voyage to Newfoundland ; 

death . . . .10, 221 

John 6 

a magistrate .... 9 
Gioja, Flavio, first used the com- 
pass 145 

Globe, used "by Day ia . . 34, H-i 
Davis on uses of . . . 1 63 
constructed 1 y Mai-tin Behaim 88, 
144, vote 
constructed by Mercat' r . 147 
description of the Molyneiix 

globes 167 

treatise on, by Hues . , 156 
circumnavigation (see Cano, 
Carendixh, Brake). 
Goats, at St. Helena . . . 209- 
Goii's Mercy, Cape, named by 

Davis . . . . 42, 40 
Bay of, in JIagellan's Strait . 127 
Godthaab (see Gilbert Sound). 
" Golden Hind," i-hip in Sir 

Humphrey Gilbert's fleet . 10 
Drake's sliip . . . 101, lo2 
(See Pelican.) 
Gomara, quoted as to a N.W P. . 25 

Gombroon 264 

Gomez, Estevan, voyage of . .16 
Gomez, Don Diego, Governor of 

Fayal, surrendered . . 86 

Good Hope, Cape of . . . . 195 

proposal of Cavendish to round 1 23 

Dutch ships sail nmn-i 186, 1S7, 1P3 

E.I.C. fleet . . . 202, 207 

" Tigers If' A«Zp "separated from 

her consort off . . . 216 

Gracechurch Street, house of Sir J. 

Smith in . . . .196 
Graciosa, one of the Azores . 84, 88 
Gravelines, rendezvous of Spanish 

fleet 80 

Gravesend, second E.I.C. fleet sailed 

from 209 

" Biscoveri;" in 1616, sailed 
from 257 



2S4 



INDEX. 



FAGB 

Great Circle Sailing . . . It50 

Gh'eei), Henry, with Hudson . . 229 

chief mutineer . . . 230, 232 

death 23 i 

Cfreenland discovered by Norse- 
men . . . . 14, 68 
visit of Nicol6 Zeno ; on the 

Zeno map . . . .19 
sighted by Frobisher . . 21 
extent of coast known . . 27 
sighted by Davis ; named 

"Desolation" . . .39 
scenery . . . . 40, 45 
re-discovered and made known 

by Davis . . . .67 
extent of coast laid down by 

Davis 66 

description of coast and glacier 66 
east coast sighted by Hud- 
son 227 

voyage of Captain Hall to . 249 

account of , by BaflSn . .251 

Dr. Rink on the trees of . . 252 

Greenhithe, Hudson sailed from . 229 

Greenway Court, on the Dart, seat 

of the Gilberts . 6, 8, 9, 211 

Guatulco, Drake at . . . .103 

" Guest," storeship in E.I.C. fleet . 197 

abandoned .... 201 

Giietaria, native place of Sebastian 

del Cano . . . .95 
Guevara, Spanish writer on navi- 
gation 150 

English transition . . .152 

Guiana 4 

Guillemots at Hope Sanderson . 58 

at Cape Digges . . 229, 233, 238 

at Cape Shackleton . . . 268 

Guinea, voyage of Hawkins to . 7 

Guijpuzcoa, squadron of, under 

Miguel de Oqnendo . . 72 
(See Basques, Oquendo.) 
Gurney, Kit, cabin-boy in the "Svm- 

shine" 36 

Hadley's quadrant .... 166 
Hakluyt, Richard, at Oxford with 

Raleigh 11 

published narratives of Davis's 

voyages . . . .64, 268 
tmti slated the work of Lopez 
Vaz 109 



PAGE 
Hakluyt, Richard, published the 
Magellan Strait voyage of 

Davis 139 

narrative of Fitch's journey to 
India ..... 195 
Hakluyt Head, Spitzbergen, sighted 

by Hudson .... 227 

Baffiu off 254 

Hakluyt Island, in Baffin's Bay . 259 
"Half Moon," Hudson's ship, in 

his third voyage . . . 228 
Hall, Captain, voyages to Green- 
land 249 

his expedition . . . 250, 257 

deatii 251 

Halley, his navigation problem . 156 
Hans Egede, ligiited to the scenes 
of his Greenland labours, by 

Davis 71 

Hardness, i)art of Dartmouth dock- 
yard 7 

Harris's Voyages^ notice of death of 

Davis in .... 268 

" Hart,"E. I.G. ship, Captain Blithe 263 
" Hart," Dartmouth ship, fitted out 

against the Armada . . 75 
Harvey, (^aptain, cruising with 

Davis 91 

Hatton, Sir Christopher, patron of 

Sir Francis Drake . . 100 
name of Drake's ship changed 
to that of his ere- 1 . . 101 
Havard, Judith, housekeeper of 

John Davis .... 200 
engaged to be married to Davis 212 
bequest to, in Davis's will . 213 
Hawkins, natives of Plymouth . 4 
Sir John, voyage to Guinea , 7 
new ships of war designed by 74 
in command of the " Vic- 
tory" 75 

Rear-Admiral of the Fleet . 76 

in action ; knighted . . 79 

his West India voyage . . 171 

praise of . . . .172 

Richard, in command of the 

"Stcalloic" . . .75 

sighted the Falkland Islands 127 

Hawkridge, Captain, with Sir J. 

Button 234 

Hayes, Captain, with Sir Humphrey 

Gilbert in his last voyage . 10 



INDEX. 



285 



PAGE 

^^ Heart' i Sase," one of Captau 
Hall's ships iu his Greenland 

voyage 

consort of the " Thoviasine" 
in Spitzbergen 
(See Barker, JIuntriss.) 
Hecla and Fury Strait 
" Hector" sliip in the E.I.C. fleet . 
losses by death 
proceeded to Priaman . 
death of the captain 
stood by her consort when in 
danger ..... 
Eellowes, Ed., translator of Gue- 

vaiVs navigation . 
JHelluland of the Norsemen, identi- 
fied with Newfoundland 
Henry J.he Navigator, Prince, com- 
pass used in expeditious 

of 

Herald's Vititation (see Westcote). 
Heriot, Thomas, chapter on the use 

of rhumbs ; notice of . . 156 
Hernandez, Tom^, survivor rescued 
by Cavendish , . 
escaped .... 
Htjfwood, Captain, of the " Susan 

in E.I.C. voyage . 
Higinus ..... 
" Hind " (see " Golden Hind '). 
Hipparchus .... 

his discoveries . , 
Holsteinborg .... 
Holway, of Wadditon , 
Homer . .... 
Hondius used Wright's tables for 

his map of tlie world 
Honeyman, Mr., ship of, com 

manded by Davis . 
Hood, Dr., Thomas, his edition of 
Bourne's works . 
improvements in the astro 

lahe 
treatise on the Molyneux 

globe 
engaged to lecture on navi' 
gation .... 
"ifope," Queen's ship . 

Captain Cross in command 
" Hopewell," Hudson's ship . 
^' Hopes Check'd" name given by 

Button . . . .234 



250 



254 



152 



145 



110 
111 



197 
170 



141 

142 



9 
170 



155 



17( 



153 



153 



167 



196 
74 



227 



PACK 

Hopkins, Mr., with Davis in the 

Dutch ship . 1S5, 187, 189, 190 

defended the Dutch ship . 1-1 

Horizontal sailing .... 10 > 

Horn, Cape 100 

sighted by Drake . . . 102 
Horta, capital of Fajal , . . 84 
captui'cd by the Earl of Cum- 
berland . . . .85 
description . . . .86 
chief inhabitants on board 
the " Victory ' . . .87 
Houston, Captain, of ship fitted out 

at Dartmouth . . . 77 
Houtman, Cm-nelius de, commanded 
the first Dutch voyage to 
the East Indies . . . 182 
commanded the second 

Dutch voyage . . . 184 
unfitness for command 18-^, 187 
received by the king of 

Achen .... 189 
jealous of Davis . . . 189 
murdered by the Achenese 

190, 191, 212, 225 
Frederick de, commanded tlie 

" Leeuwin" . . . . 184 
prisoner at Achen . . 191 
bis Malay dictionary . . 192 
come on board the E.I.C. 

fleet 204 

Hoivard, Lord, of Effingham ; Lord 

Admiral . . . .75 

on board the " Ark Royal" 75, 76 
in Plymouth Sound . . .77 
attacked the rear Spanish 

ships 78 

engaged the " iSa/? J/arco5 " . 78 
organising his fleet; hot 

action 79 

pi-eparing fireships , . . 79 
victory over the Spanish Ar- 
mada SO 

" Sea»ian's Secrets," dedicated to 

81, 113, 158 
ia command el the "Ark 

Royal " at Cadiz . . . 177 
Captain B^ysaond, a servant 

of 196 

Howard, Lord Thomas, Captain of 

the ''Lion" . . . .75 
took bis ship into action . 79 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Howard, Lord Thomas, knighted . T9 

at Cadiz 177 

Hozes, Francisco de, in fleet of 

Loaysa 96 

discovered Staten Island. . 97 
Hudsom, Henry, 2 ; possibly known 

to Davis . . .29, 226 
•'lighted into his bay" by 

Davis . . .62, 71, 226 
voyages for the Mu-covy 

Company . . . 2:27, 228 
voyage for the Dutjh . . 228 
sent to discover a N.W. P. .229 
journal ends ; discovered 

Hudson's Bay . . .229 
seized and turned adrift by 

mutineers .... 231 
his services . . . .233 
discoveries .... 265 
Jack, son of Henry Hudson, 

shared his cabin . 227, 228 
with his faiLer in his List 

voyage . . . .229 
set adrift with his father . 232 
Thomas . . . .29, 226 
Hudson's Bay, discovery of, by 

Hud-on 229 

west side discovered by But- 
ton .... 23i, 235 
Fox on western side . . 242 
Company formed . , .247 
Hudson's River . . . .228 
Hudson's Strait . . . . 28 
entrance discovered by Davis 52 
description of, approach to 62, 69 
discovery by Hudson . . 229 
Button sailed through . 234, 235 
Baffin in . . . . 236, 237 
consequences of discovery . 247 
chart of, by Baffin . . .255 
James checked by the ice 

in 288 

state of ice when navigated by 
Fox .... 240, 243 
Hues, Robert, the mathematician, 

with Cavendish . . 116, 141 

notice of 155 

his treatise on the globe . 156, 167 
*' Hugh Gallant," sldp in Caven- 
dish's first voyage . . 109 
Bull, expedition of Hall fitted out 

at 251 



PAGE 

Huntriss, William, of Scarborough, 

follower of Hall . . .250 
mate of the " Heart' s-Ease " . 250 
became master on Hall's death 251 

Icaria, on the Zeno map . .19 

Iceland, voyages to, from Bristol . 15 

Greenland colonised from . 14 

on the Zeno map . . . 20 

Captain Pope at, in the "Sttn- 

shiite" 51 

Ice first met with by Davis . . 38 
on tiie east coast of Greenland 39 
middle pack in Davis Strait . 60 
carried down to Newfoundland 170 
observations of Davis on . .69 
Icebergs of great size seen by 

Davis . . . . 47, 69 
Incas, knowledge of traditions pos- 
sessed by Sarmiento . . 105 
Tupac Yupanqui, discovery of 
islands by ... . 105 
Ingram, Captain, second in com- 
mand with Button . . 234 
Ipswich (see Fuller, T.). 
" Island Voyage," Earl of Essex in 

command of . . . .177 

Jackman, Charles, voyage of . .17 
James I. , his grant to Sir E. Michel- 
borne 214 

James, Captain, of Bristol, sent to 

Hudson's Bay . . . 238 
meeting with Fox . . . 242 
in winter quarters . . 244, 245 
return to Bristol . . . 246 
James Bay, Hudson's winter quar- 
ters in 229 

Janes, Mr. John, nephew of Mr. 

Sanderson . . .32, 33 
supercargo in Davis's Arctic 

voyages . . . . 33, 35 
with Davis, surveying the Sclly 

Isles .• . . . .37 
in a boat to reconnoitre the ice 38 
at Gilbert Sound, intercourse 

with Eskimos . . .40 
encounter with polar bears . 42 
sailed with Davis in the third 

Arctic voyage . . .54 
description of approach to 
Hudson Strait . . .61 



INDEX. 



287 



PAGE 

Janen, Mr. John, landed on Darcy 

Island after stag . . ,62 
wrote the narratives of Davis's 

voyages 63 

with Davis in the voyage to 

Magellan Strait . 116, 119, 126 
revived the spirits of Captain 

Davis 131 

his admiration of Davis as a 

sui-veyor .... 133 
in personal danger . . . 134 
sufferings on the homeward 

voyage 138 

his narratives of voyages of 
Davis . . . 139, 225, 268 
Jansen, Zachnriah, inventor of the 

telescope .... 179 
Japan, Eiiglish factory in . . 209 
Japanese pirates, " Tiger " falls in 

with 218 

intercourse vrith . . . 219 
murderers of Captain Davis . 220 
Jashk, near the Persian Gulf, Por- 
tuguese fleet off . . .263 
Captain Shilling buried at . 264 
Java (see Bantam). 
Jenkinson, Anthony, advocated 

N.E.P. . . . .17, 171 
Johanna (Comoro Islands) . . 188 
Johore .... 189, 190, 218 
Jo.ies, Sir Francis, patron of Baf- 
fin's voyage .... 256 
Jones Sound in Baffin's Bay . . 259 
Joseph, Captain Benjamin, whaling 

voyage to Spitzbergen . , 252 
his treatment of foreign ships 253 
second voyage to Spitzbergen 254 
'• Jiidith," ship in Frobisher's third 

Arctic voyage . . , 23 
Juet, Robert, mate with Hud- 
son 229 

disrated 230 

joined the mutiny . . .231 
death 232 

Kara Sea, 7 ; voynge of Stephen 

Borough . , 10, 17. 26 
Kepler, correspondent of Heriot . 156 
Kippis, Dr., notice of Davis in 

" Biographica Britanniea " 268 
Kishm, Portuguese fort at . . 264 
Kholmogro, Borough wintered at . 17 



PAGE 

Knivet, one of the crew of Caven- 
dish's ship .... 119 
his narrative in Purchas 123, 139, 



Labrador discovered by Cabot . 15 
Cortereal . . . . 15, 24 
voyage of Sebnstian Cabot 26, 27 
shown on Mercator's map . 27 
coast surveyed by Davis . 40, TO 
Gibbons wintered on coast . 263 
Ladrilleros, Juan de, expedition to 

Magellan's Stiait , . .99 
Lame^-o, Hernando, pilot in the Sar- 

mieuto expedition . .105 
Lancaster, Sir James ... 4 
his voyage drew attention to 
the East . . . .178 

notice of 195 

commanded first E.I.C. voyage 197 
divided stores from a Portu- 
guese pi-ize .... 200 
intercourse with Cuffros at 

Table Bay . , . .202 
established a market at Anton- 

gil 202 

interview with the king of 

Achen 205 

at Bantam .... 206 
sent his pinnace to Moluccas 207 
firmness in a gale of wind .208 
services to the Company. . ilO 
patron of Hall's Greenland 

voyage 250 

Lancaster Sound in Baffin's Bay . 259 
Lane, H., discourse on North-East 

Passage for Mr. Sanderson . £2 
Lapland, Willoughby perished on 

the coast of . . . .16 
Latitude, rules given by Davis . 161 
Baffin's observations . . 253 
'^Lcetiw" and " Leeumn," Dutch 

ships for the India voyage . 184 

at Achen 189 

attacked by the Achenese . 191 
return to Zeeland . . . 193 
bad discipline . . . 186, 212 
Lefort, Guyon, treasurer of the 

" Leeuic " . . . . 184 
helped Davis to defend the ship 191 
succeeded Houtman in com- 
mand ..... 192 



288 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

"Leicester," ship of Cavendish iu 

his second voyage . . 115 
at Port Desire . . . 118, 119- 
quarrel of Cavendish with t lie 

officers 119 

parted company with Davis 124 
Leyva, Don Antonio de, with land 

forces in the Armada . 73, 78 
on board the " Rata " , .73 
attempt to rally the Si)anish 

fleet 80 

Liefy Eriksen, voyage from Green- 
land to America . . .68 

Lima founded 98 

Lindenow, Admiral, Danish voyage 

to Greenland . . . .249 
Limejmce as a remedy for scurvy . 2J1 
Linschoten, his translation of the 

voyage of Gali (de Gualle) . 104 
notice of . . . .181,182 
death . . . . .183 
" Lion," Queen's ship . . .74 
Lord Tliomas Howard in com- 
mand . . . . 75, 79 
Sir R. Southwell in command 
at Cadiz . . . .177 

" Lion" (see " Leeuw "). 
Lister, Captain Christopher, with 

the Earl of Cumberland . 82 
sent to cut out prizes at Fayal 85 
attack on St. Mary's . , 89 
shipwrecked on Cornwall coast 90 
seni to the South Sea, cap- 
tured Lopez Yaz . . . 109 
Lizard, Spanish fleet sighted off . 77 
Loaysay Garcia Jofre de, in com- 
mand of second Spanish 
voyage to Magellan's Strait 96 

death 97 

Loeke, cousin of Cavendish with 

him on his second voyage . 116 
Log-hook, introduced by Sebastian 

Cabot 16 

kept by Davis ; third Arctic 

voyage . . . . 63, 268 

foi-m of tlie log of the " Lesire " 163 

Baffin's log in Hudson's Strait 255 

I/>g, heaving the .... 133. 

liogarithms, discovery by Napier 

and Briggs .... 164 
Lok, Michael, promoter of Fro- 

bisher's vt^yages . 21, 22, 2:5 



PAGE 

Lok; Michael, diai*ter granted to . 22 
" LoiiUon," E.I.C. ship, Captain 

Shilling 264 

Baffin in command . . . 264 
London's Hope, name given to Sur, 

on coast of Oman . . . 264 
London merchants, interview with 

Davis at Mortlake . . 29 

London Coast, iu Greenland, named 

by Davis . . .57, 257 
Longitude, proposed methods of 

finding 145 

by lunar observation 105, 152, 237, 
261 
by moon's culmination . . 261 
Ludloiv, Arnold, with Hudson in 

the last voyage . . . 229 
Lumlei/, Lord, friend of Davis . 34 
Lumley IinUt, named by Davis . 59 
proved to be the " Meta Incog- 
nita " of Frobisher , . 67 
iMnar obsei-vation for finding longi- 
tude, observed by Sarnwento . 152 
observed by Baffin . . 237, 261 
Lynn, Nicholas of, traditions of his 

Polar voyages . . .15 

Madagascar (see Aniongil, St 
Augustine Bay, St. Mary's). 
Magellan, Fernando, expedition \ 9S 
discovered Straits . . . 94 
entered the South Sea ; death 95 
narrative by Pigafetta . . 100 
Magellan, Strait of, plan of Davis 

to discover N.W.P. by . .92 
discovery by Magellan . . 94 
voyage of Loaysa . . .96 
third Spanish expedition to 95, 96 
expeditions from the western 

side . . . .97,98 
Drake's expedition . . . 101 
Winter in'the Strait . . 102 
expedition of Sarmiento 104, 105, 
106 
colony of Sarmiento aban- 
doned .... 107, lOS 
Cav^idish in ... . 110 
voyage of Merrick and Chud- 

leigb . . . . .112 
8cenes*y and vegetation . 121, 122 
Davis in .... . I2S 
surveys by Davis. ... 133 



INDEX. 



289 



PAGE 

Magellan, Strait of, imrratiTe of 

voyage of Davis to, by Janes 139 
Magnetic obsa-vatioiu taken by Davis 59 
works by Bor ugh and Nor- 
man . . . .59, 153 

by Bciffin 261 

(See Variation Dip.) 
Magnetic Pole, suggested by Cortes 151 
Magothg, Wm. , of Bristol, historian 

of Merrick's voyaige . . 112 

Maldive Isles 188 

" Jioiice Scourjre," ship bought from 
the Earl of Cumberland by 
the E.I.C., name changed . 197 
Manda^a, Alvaro de, service of 

Sarmiento with . . . 105 
Manhattan Isle, discovered by 

Hudson . . . . .228 
Mansell Island in Hudsoa's Bay, 

named by Button . . 2"4 
sighted by Fox . . .241 
Maps of Sebastian Cabot at White- 
hall . . . .15,26 
of the Zeni . . 18, 19, 20 
Mercator's . ... 27 
new map of 1599 . . .168 
(See Ci^artB.) 
*' Margaret," ves>el in the Earl of 
Cumberland's voyage to 
Azores . . . . .82 
scut home . . . .89 
^^Maria^" ship of Sarmiento, ia 

Magellan's Strait . . .107 
*'^ Maria" of Bristol, Captain 

James's ship .... 238 
fallen in with by Fox . . 242 

on a rock 244 

in winter quarters . . 244, 245 
**■ Manrigold," ship in expedition of 

Drake 101 

loss of 102 

*^^ Mariner** Min'oi;" by Wagenaar 183 
Marrkesbury, Captain (see Burke of 

litae) . . . . 82, 83 
Markhain, Commodore, edition of 

the works of Davis . . 267 
Meprldand of the Nors^ooen, identi- 
fied with Nova Scotia . . 68 
Myotta IsUmd, Dutch obtain sup- 
plies at . . . . .188 
Mazftrtdo Bay, in Magellan's Strait, 

same as Tobias Bay . » 121 



177 



151 



151 
152 



SO 



PAGE 

" Jfoy i?<Me," Queen's ship . . 74 

Captain Fen ton . . .75 

following the Spanish fleet . 78 

m action ..... 79 

ship of Sir Francis Vere at the 

Azores . 

Medina, Pedro de, Spanish work 

on navigation, trsinslated 

into Dutch . 

copy found at Barents' winter 

quarters 
English translation . 
Medina Sidonia, Duke of, Admiral 
of the Spanish Armada, his 

orders 

ordered the fleet to rendezvous 

at Gravelines 
resolved to retreat north wa ds 
^'■Meg," vessel in the Earl of Cum- 

berland's expedition . . 82 

Melville Bay 25S 

Mendocino Cape, coast to north of, 

discovered by Drake . . 103 
Mendoza, Garcia Hurt ado de, Cap- 
tain-General of Chile, sent 
an expedition to Magellan's 

Strait 99 

Mercator, Gerard, map of the 

world . . . . 27, 39 

circumstances of his birth . 146 

education; publication of Globe 147 

invention of the projection . 148 

projectixn utilised by Wright 155, 

163, 168 

Menxkemt Adventurers, Sebastian 

Cabot, governor of company 

sent ships against the Spanish 

Armada 

(See Muscovy Company.) 
** Mere-Hotiour," ship of Lord T. 

Howard at Cadiz . 
Mtridimia I Par<s,talales constructed 

by Wright . . . 88, 150 
used by Hondius ; published 
by Blundeville . . .155 
*' Mermaid," vessel in Davis's 

second Arctic voyage . 44, 45 
sent home . . . .48 
Merriek, Andrew, in Chudleigh's 

voyage 112 

Mesia, Don Augustin, in eommand 

of the "Saaiuis'* . . 72 



16 



76 



177 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

** Meta Incognita" Toaxae given by 

the Qi.een . . 22, 23, 65 
" Michael," ship in Frobisiier's 

voyage . . . . 22, 23 
Mlchelborne, Sir Edward, com- 
manded the " Moon " in the 
" Island Voyage " . . .177 
notice of; voyage to India . 214 
landed on Couey Island . .215 
off Sumatra .... 216 
went to Bantam . . .217 
intercourse vsrith Japa::ese 

pirates .... 218, 219 
suppressed the Jai)auese 

mutiny 221 

return home .... 221 
narrative of the voyage . . 268 
Mlonaci (see Newfoandlaml). 
Mlddelburg, capital of Zealand 179, 180 
expedition to Elast Indies fitted 

out at 184 

return of Dutch ships to . . 193 

Middle Pack, Davis in . . . 60 

attempted by Baffin . . 258 

taken by Parry and Nares . 258 

MiJdUton, Captain, cruising with 

Captain Davis . . .91 
in the " Island Voyage " . 177 
second in command in the 

first E.I.C. voyage . . 197 
sent to the King of Acheu . 215 

death 206 

Henry, of the " Stisan," E.LC. 

voyage . . . .205 
sent to Priaman for pepper . 205 
commanded second E.I.C. 
voyage .... 209 
Milbui-ne, seducer of the wife of 

Davis 138 

probably hanged for coining . 139 
Milfoi-d Haven, " Tiger " anchored at 221 

Mi)iab 264 

Misericordia of Sarmiento iden- 
tified with the Bay of God's 
Mercy of Davis . . .129 
Mocha, Baffin at . . . ,262 
Moluccas, treaty between Spain 

and Portugal as to . . 97 
Captain Lancaster sent his 
pinnace to ... . 207 

Molyneux 64 

iiis globe . . . .61, 167 



PAGE 

Mongada, Hugo de, in charge of 

Spanish galleasses . . 73 
his ship lost off Calais . . 8) 
Monson, Sir William, serving on 

board the "C/ia)-i€«" . 76 

captain of the " Meg " with the 

Earl uf Cumberland . . 82 
sent to cut out prizes at Fayal 85 
his remark on the services of 

Davis 169 

on board the " liepulse" at 

Cadiz 177 

*' liainboic" in the "Island 

Voyage " .... 177 
conversations with Davis 178, 268 
" Moon," ship in Fi'obishei-'s third 

voyage 23 

"Moon," Sir E. Michelborne*s sliip 

in the "Island Voyage" . 177 
" Moonshine," ship in Arctic ex- 
peditions of Davis . 33, 42 
sailed up Cumberland Gulf . 42 
second voyage continued in . 43 
repaired at Sukkertoppen 47, 49 
Morgan, Henry, purser of the 

" Siinxhiyie " . . . .44 

wrote the narrative . . 63, 268 

Mortlake, philosopher of . , 12 

(See Jh: Dee.) 

house of Dr. Dee ... 13 

attack on 31 

interview of Davis with mer- 
chants at . . - 29, 226 
Moseley, Mr., on the vegetation of 

Fernando Noronha . . 215 
Moter, Andrew, mutineer against 

Hudson . , . . 230, 232 
Mouehe)-on, Balthazar de, meivhant 

in Zeeland . . . 180, 181 
sent vessels to the Norih- 

East Passage . . . 182 

fitted out a fleet for India . 183 

employed Davis . . . 185 

Afe^c&iorde, founded Archangel 181 

Mountjoy, Lord, in the "Island 

Voyage" . . . .177 
MuHster, Sebastian, on insularity 

of America . . . .25 

Muscovy Company . . . 7, 16 

Sir J. Smith a member of . 196 

Hudson employed by . 227, 228 

Baffin in the service of . . 252 



INDEX. 



291 



PAGE 

Muscovy Company, wh.iliiig voyages 

iu the Spitzbeigeu seas . 252 

Mutiny on board the " Desire" . 125 

against Henry Hudson . . 231 

Najera, Jorge Manrique de, in the 

fleet of Loaysa . . .96 
Napier; Lord, discoverer of loga- 
rithms 164 

Narbm-ough, Sir John, description 

of the NaiTOWs . ... 121 
Nares, Sir Greorge, took the Middle 

Pack 258 

Narro-ics (see Angosturas). 
Navigation, art of . . . . 140 
Greek astronomers . . 141, 142 

Behaim 143 

longitude 145 

compass 145 

Mercator's projection 146 to 149 

Nonius 150 

Spanish writers on . . 150, 151 

Hues 156 

commendritiou of the science 

by Davis . . . 158, 159 
three kinds of . . . .160 
Dr. Hood engaged to lecture 

on 197 

(See Bourne, Seaman's Secrets, 
Longitude, Latitude, Lu- 
nars.) 
Neck, Jacob (see Walker). 
Negapatam, sliip of. . . . 192 
Neslon, Port, winter quarters of 

Button 235 

Neiofoundland, expedition of Sir 

Humphrey Glbert . . 10 
discovered by John Cabot . 15 
encounter of Davis's men with 

Micmacs . . . .50 
ice carried down to . . . 170 
(See Corte7-eal,Cartier,£stoli- 
land, Helluland.) 
Nicobar Isles .... 192, 203 
curious worm growing in sands 204 
Nombre de Jesus, settlement in 

Magellan's Strait . . 107, 111 
Nonius (or Nunez), Pedro, Portu- 
guese mathematician, notice 

of 150 

M Nonpareil, " Queen's ship . . 75 
Captain Fenner ... 76 



PAGE 

"iViTOjjareJ^," in action , . ,79 
Nordenskibld, Baron, on the globe 

of Behaim . . . 144, note 
Nm-man, Robert, discovery of dip 

of the needle. . . 59,153 
Norris, Sir John .... 4 
Noi-sevien, Sagas of, bi'ought to light 

by Professor Raf u . 14, 68 
possible grave of . . 4o, 68 
st ry of settlements in Green- 
land 68 

intr(jduced angelica into Green- 
laud 252 

(See Erik, Lief.) 
North Cape, passable sailing to 

Novaya Zemlya from . .170 
North-East Passage . . . .16 
advocated by Jenkin.«on . .17 
discourse of Henry Lane on . 32 
Dutch voyages .... 1S2 
(See Boi-ough, Jackman, 
Barents.) 
"North Star," pinnace in Davis's 

second Arctic voyage . . 43 
lo.«^t with all hands . . 51, 52 
North- West Passage, discourse of Sir 

H. Gilbert . . 9, 10, 25 to 27 
conference with Secretary Wal- 

singham . . . 14 to 29 
Frobisher's voyages . . 21 to 24 
arrival of Indians iu Germany 

by 27 

first voyage of Davis . 34 to 42 
second voyage of Davis . 43 to 52 
two routes indicated by Davis 69 
third voyage of Davis . 53 to 71 
plan of a route by the Pacific 92, 
114, 115 
arguments in " World's Hydro- 
graphical Discovery " . . 169 
statement of objections . . 170 
objections refuted . 171 to 175 
Hudson sent to discover . . 229 
company for; Baffin despatclied 255 
scheme of Baffin for a Pacific 

route 262 

(See Arctic Expeditions.) 
Nonimbega, memoir on, by Dr. Dee 13 
Nottingham Island, iu Hudson's 

Bay 238 

si^'hted by Fox . . .241 
Button's report on tides off . 243 



292 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Noursoak, in the Waigat, BaflSn at 257 
Novaya Zemlya, discovered by 

Willoughby . . . .16 
strait betweeij, un,d tbe maiu- 

land 16 

passable sailings from North 

Cape to 170 

Hudson's voyage to , , . 228 
(See Barents.) 
Nunez (see Nonius). 



Oh, river 

Oquendo, Miguel de, Guipu^coa 

squadron in tbe Armada 

his ship on fire ; towed into 

Weymouth .... 

engaged the English Admiral 

attempt to rally the Spanish 

fleet 

Ordnance, English fleet . 

E.I.C. sliips ..... 
Ormuz, Persians and English agiee 
to expel Portuguese . 

fall of 

Ortelius, on th© insularity of 
America .... 
publication of his atlas . 
Other, northern voyage of 



17 



264 



Pacific Ocean, plan of Davis to make 

theN.W.P. by ... 92 

entered by Magellan . . 95 

Loaysa and Cano buried in . 97 

plan of Baffin to make to 

N.W.P. by . . . .262 

Pahang, junk bound for, captuxied 

by Michelborne . . .218 

Palma .185 

Paradoxal Sailing .... 160 
sell erne for a chart . . . 163 
Parker, Charles, mutineer on board 

the "Desire" . . 125, 134 

death 135 

Parma, Duke of, carrying all be- 
fore him . . . .64 
at Dunkirk waitiAg for the 

Spanish fleet . . . .73 
watched by Seymour's squa- 
dron 76 

Parry, Sir Edward, named places 

after Bylot and Baffin . . 237 
named Fox's Cliaunel . . 243 



PAGE 

Pari'y, Sir Edward, testified to the 

merits of Baffin . . . 256 
took tiie Middle Pack . . 258 
Paiagonia, Magellan at Port St. 

Julian on coast of. . .94 

Drake at Port St. Julian . . 101 

Cavendish at Port Desire . 110 

natives at Port Desire . .135 

(See Desire, Port.) 

Patani, Sir Edward Michelborne 

sailed for ... . 217 
junk of, seized by Japanese 

pirates 218 

"Patience," one of Hall's ships in 

tlie Greenland voyage . . 25t) 
Baffin pilot of , . . .250 
return to Hull . . , .251 
Pearson, carpenter in Davis's third 

Arctic voyage . . . 55, 56 
Pedir, Dutch ships andiored off . 192 

Pegu 189 

^'Pelican," Drake's sliip; name 

changed to " Golden Hind " . 101 
Penajiel, Marques de, commanding 

the " Saoi Marcos " . .73 
engaged by the English admiral 78 

Penguins 134 

served out to tlie men . . 135 
turned bad .... 137 
Penguin Island . . . 110, 120 
seals collected on . . . 126 
birds collected at . . . 184 
Pepper marts in Sumatra . 205, 206 
full cargoes of, at Bantam . 207 
sailing directions for pepper 
ports . . . . . 217 
(See Achen, Priaman, Tlku.) 
Pereyra, Don Antonio, in command 

of the " Santiago " . .73 
Pemambuco, attack on, by Lancas- 
ter 196 

Persia, Shah of, agreement with, 

about Ormuz , . .264 
Persian Gulf, Baffin's surveys of 262, 
263, 264 
Peru oonqiiered by Pizairo (see I'o- 

ledo) 98 

Pe-ry, John, master of the " Desire " 

under Davis . . . 116. 118 
signed the document at Port 

Desire 126 

his advice . .... 128 



INDEX. 



293 



PAGE 

Pet, Arthur, voyage of . . .17 

Philip II., war with Eng-tand , 64 

resolution to invade Engl.-md 72 

his preparations . . .72 

resolved to colonise Magellan's 

Strnits 1' 6 

Philippines fall to Spain in the par- 
tition wath Portugal , . 9' 
last service of Samiiento at .108 
distance from California . . 171 
(See Gain.) 
Pkilpot Lane, Sir J. Smith's house at 196 
Pico, one of the Azores . . 84, 85 
Pierce, Michael, mutineer against 

Hudson . . . 229, 230, 232 
Piffafetta, Antonio, mvrrative of 

Magellan's voyage . 100, 114 
Pillar, Cape . . . .129, 131 
Pilot, rules for guidance of . .161 
Pimentel, Diego de, in command of 

the " San Mateo " . . 73 
Pirates (see Jajyinese). 
Pizarro, conqueror of Peru . . 98 
Placencia, in Bnizil . . .117 
Davis at . . . . . 136 
attack on his peojJe . . 187 
Plandus, map of . . . 175, 182 
Plato (see Atalantis), 
Pliny quoting Cornelius Nepos as 
to Indians arriving in Ger- 
many 27 

Cape Tahin of . . . .171 
Plymouth, Hawkins' natives of . 4 
sent ships against the St>anish 

Armada . . . .77 
English fleet in the Sound 

when Armada was sighted . 77 
Earl of Cumberlai id sailed from 82 
Drake's expedition sailed from 101 
Cavendish sailed from . . 110 
Chudleigh sailed from . . 112 
second expedition of Cavendish 

sailed from . . . .117 
Bylot and BaflBn returned to . 238 
Povieroys, lords of the manor of 

Stoke Gabriel ... 5 
manor house of . . 5, 11 
Pomponivs Mela, his authority on 

iu.-ularity of continents . 170 
map of 14-=i7 in a codex of 144, nott 
Pope, Richard, master's mate with 

Davis 35 



PAGE 

Pope, Richard, captain of the 

" Sunshine " . . . .44 
detached by Davis on special 

service 44 

proceedings after leaving Davis 51 
work of . . . . .65 
Poijioisrs seen and harpooned on 

board tine "SimsAiHe" . . 38 

Porto Santo 185 

Portsmouth, arrival of the " Tiger " at 221 
Poi tugaese, Lancaster in Portugal 195 
prize captured by E.I.C. fleet. 200 
eflForts to undermine the Dutch 

at Aden . . . ,189 

intrigues against the E.I.C. . 205 

action with fleet of, ojBf Jashk 263 

expelled from Ormuz . . 264 

Preston, Captain Amyas, in the 

Azores 89 

at Cadiz 177 

" Island Voyage " . . . 177 
Pretty, Francis, historian of the 

voyage of Cavendish . . 109 
Pfiaman, pepper mart in Sumatra 206 
the " Su^an " sent to . . 205 
*' Red Dragon" and "Hector" 

proceed to ... . 206 
" Tiger " at . . . . 216 
sailing directions for . 217, 268 
Pnckett, Habakkuk, servant of Sir 

Dudley Digges . . . 229 
with Hudson in liis la.st voyage 229 
down with scurvy; a time- 
server 280 

spared by the mutineers . 231 

his narrative of the mutiny 231, 233 
sailed with Button . . .234 
Prince, " Worthies of Devon ;" er- 

rors in the life of Davis . 268 
Pring, Captain Martiii, seventh 

E.I.O. voyage . . .262 
Projectioih, Mercator's , . 14S, 149 

Ptolemy 141 

text-book of the Middle Ages 142 

translation .... 143 

Pulo Lotum, Dutch .•■hips at . . 192 

Pulo Marra, " Tiger "off . . 217 

Pulo Tioman, Davis shaped a 

course for . . . .218 
Purbach, translation of Ptolemy . 143 
Purchas, " Pilgrimes," letter of 

Cavendish; Knivet's story . 139 



294 



INDEX. 



PAOF, 

Purchai, notice of Baffin . . 249 
Fotherby's jouniul . . . 255 
papers and maps of Baffin in 

hands of . , . .256 
his account of Baffin's death . 265 

Quadrant, Davis's . . . 165, 166 

Hadley's 166 

Baffin's 253 

Quedah 192 

Quintei-o Bay, Cavendish. at . . Ill 

Radforth, Mr., in Chelsea; Davis 

lodged at his bouse . . 30 
"Rainbow," Queen's ship, Lord 

Henry Seymour . . .75 

stationed off Calais . . .76 

Sir Francis Vere's ship at 
Cadiz 177 

Sir W. Monson in the Azores . 177 
Raleigh, Carew .... 7 
Raleigh, Sir Walter . . . 4, 7, 184 

excursions with Davis to Dart- 
mouth . , . . 7, 33 

education ; early career ; ser- 
vices 11 

aid to the projects of Davis . 12 
31, 33 

introduced Davis to Mr. San- 
derson 31 

volunteer squadron against the 
Armada 76 

owned a ship in tie Azores 
expedition . . . .82 

acted for Davis in a lawsuit . 91 

knowledge respectiugMagellan 
Strait 92 

entertained Sariniento at his 
house 108 

Virginia planted by. . 32, 109 

encouraged the Pacific scheme 
of Davis 114 

his warning to Davis . . 138 

friend of Hues and Heriot . 156 

Rear-Adrairal at Cadiz and 
Azores 177 

his narrative of Grenville's 
action 181 

persecution . . . 211, 222 

unfalteringfriendship for Davis 224 
Raleigh, Mount, named by Davis 41, 60 
Ranie Head, Spanish fleet off . .78 



PAGE 

Randolph, Arthur, murriea at 

Flushing . . . .184 
"Rata," Spani-sh ship under An- 
tonio de Leyva . . .73 
attacked by English ships . 78 
Raymond, Captain, with Lancaster 196 
Recalde, Juan ilartiuez de, Bis- 

cayan squadron , . . 72 
rallied in support of the 

"Rata" 78 

attempt to rally the Spanish 



Red Sea, Captain Shilling and 

Baffin in .... 

"Red Dragon," Lancaster's ship, 

E.I.C. fleet .... 

John Davis, pilot 

captured a Portuguese prize . 

scui-vy in Table Bay 

losses by deatli .... 

at Aciien; proceeded to Pria- 

man 

at Bantam ; gale of wind ; lost 

her rudder .... 

in danger ; at St. Helena 

return home .... 

R^raction of the sun, observation 

by Baffin . , . . 

" Regiment of the Sea " (see Bourne, 

Hood). 
Regio^nontanus, translation of Pto- 
lemy ; almanac . . 143, 
"Repulse," ship of the Earl of 
Essex at C diz . 
Davis probably i)ilot of . 
' ' ResolvAion, " ship in Button's ex- 
pedition 
Resolutio-ii Island, Baffin anchored 

at 

sighted by Fox 
"iJt-i'e/icr€," Queen's ship 
Sir Francis Drake . 
RJiuriib lines, invented by Nonius . 

(J-'ee Heriot.) 
Ribera, Diego de, succeeded Flores 
de Valdez, and sent to co- 
operate with Sarmiento in 
Magellan's Strait . 
Rivk, Dr., on trees in Greenland . 
Rio de Jannro ..... 
" Rial a," storeship of Sarmiento, 
lost . . . . • 



262 

197 
190 
200 
201 
203 

206 

207 
20S 
209 

258 



144 



177 
178 



. 235 

236 

244 

74 

75 

150 



107 
252 
107 



107 



INDEX. 



295 



PAGE 

Boe, Sir Thomas, patron of Fox's 

voyage 239 

Jloe's Welcome, so named by Fox . 241 
" Roebuck, " in Cavendish'8 secon.l 

voyage .... 115, 11" 

at Port Desire . . . .118 

parted companj' with Lavis . 124 

" Roebuck," 'E.l.C. ship . . .263 

Roldan, Campana de, mountain 

named by Magell-m . . 94 
same as Mount Sarmieiito . 122 
^o»iH«ei'si'iord(Holsteiuborg), Halls 

ships in 251 

Rnquerez Isle 203 

Rudder of " Ark Royal " unshipped 79 

of " Red Ih-agon" lost . .207 

new rudder hung . . . 288 

Jiupelmonde, hirthphtce of Mercator 146 

•* Rutte^-s " of the sea . . . 152 



Sagcu of the Norsemen unknown 

to Elizabeth's seamen 

(See Ra/n.) 

" Sailing Directions " of Davis, for 

Sumatra . . 217, 225, 

"Sailor's Pocket-Book" of Captain 

Bedford referred to 
St. Augustine Bay, in Sladagasrar; 
Dutch at ... . 
St. George., one of the Azores . 
water obtained at . . 
St. Helena Island, fight between 
Diitch and Spanish ships . 
E.I.C. fleet at . 
" Tiger "at 
St. Julian Port, in Patagonia, Ma- 
gellan at ... . 
Drakeat ; execution ot'Doughty 
St. Michael, Isle of, Azores, prizes 
captured .... 
St, Mary, Azores .... 
attempt to get water at . 
sighted by E.I.C. fleet . 
St. Mary Island, Madagascar, E.I.C. 

fleet at 

St. Nicholas, White Sea, voyages 

to 

St. NicJiolas, one of the Cape Verds, 

Dutch ships at ... 

St. Petrox Church, Dartn-outh 7 

St. Ursula's day, Magellan named 

Cape Virgins on, . . . 



. 14 

268 

162 

188 
84 



193 

2-8 
221 



94 
101 



94 



Saldanha Bay, Dutch ship in . 186 
•• T!ge)- " o5 . . . . 215 
(See Toble Bay.) 

Salisbury Island . . . 237, 238 
sighted by Fox . . .241 

Salt, manufactured by Davis . 136 

Santa Agueda, Morro de, re-named 

Cape Froward . . .122 

San Agustin, Cape, Brazilian 

coast . . . 186, 201 

San Antonio, in Magellan's Strait, 

Davis at 122 

"Santa Catalina," Spanish ship run 

into by Valdez . . .78 

Santa Cruz, river . . .94 to 97 

St. Elmo lights . . . 216, 255 

"Sa-iito Espiritu," fleet of Loaysa 

commanded by Cano . . 96 
lost 97 

"San Felipe," Spanish ship; Don 

Francisco de Toledo . . 73 
loss of f 

San Felipe, settlement in Magel- 
lan's Strait . . . 108, 111 

"San Irancixco," ship in the ex- 
pedition of Sarmiento . . 105 

" San Gabriel," ship in the fleet of 
Lo:iysa . 

" Santiago," Spanish ship, Don An 
tonia Pereyra 

" Santiago," ship in Magellan's 

fleet 

lost on coast of Patagonia 

" San Juan de Sicilia," Italian 
ship commanded by Diego 
Enriquez .... 

" ^an Lfsmies," ship in the fleet of 

Loaysa 96 

"San Loi-enzo," Spanish ship, Don 

Hugo Mongada, lost off Calais £0 

" -San Luis," Spanish ship, Augus- 

tin Mesia . . . . 7J 

" San Luis," ship in expedition 
ofLadrilleros 

" San Marcos," Spanish ship, Mar- 
ques de Penafiel . 
flagsiiip of the Admiral, en- 
gaged Lord Howard's ship . 78 

Santa Maria Isle, on tiie Cliilian 
coast ; advice of Mr.Pery that 
ti e "Desire "should go there 
for supi)lies . . .129, 131 



. m 



. 73 



73 



99 



73 



296 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

'^ Santa Maria de la Victoria," ship 

iu the fleet of Loaysa . ^ 96 
" Santa Maria de Parrel," ship iii 

the fleet of Loaysa . . 96 
*' San Sebastian," ship in the expe- 
dition of Ladrilleros . . 99 
Sanderson, Master William, patron 

of Davis . . . 31. 32, 35 
promoted the second Arctic 

voyage 43 

report of Davis to, on his re- 
turn . . . .52, 225 
encouraged the third Arctic 

voyage . . . . . 53 
supplied fluids for the Moly- 
nenx globe .... 167 
Sanderson's Hope, discovery, de- 
scription . . 58, 59, 66 
one of the routes of Davis for 
further discovery 172, 226, 248 
260, 258, 265 
Sandridge, home of *ohn Davis . 4 
description . . . , 5, 6 
neighbours . . . 6, 8, 9 
Davis at . . . 11, 31, 65 
Adrian Gilbert at . . 11, 31 
wife and children of Davis at 

home at 35 

Davis willing to forfeit his por- 
tion of, rather than fail in 
his efforts to discover the 
theN.W.r. .... 52 
Davis at, when his fourth child 

was born . . . .81 
Davis there with his wife, for 

the last time .... 116 

Davis in retirement at . 138, 140 

works of Davis written at 158, 224 

at home for the last time . 212 

Sand;/ Hook, rounded by Hudson . 228 

Santander, ships of the Spanish 

fleet built at .... 72 
Santos, taken by the fleet of Caven- 
dish .... 117, 118 
Saris, Captain, established an Eng- 
lish factory in Japan . . 209 
Saitniento, Pedro de Gambon, pre- 
vious services . . . 105 
his survey of Magellan's Sti-ait 106 
colonised the Strait . . . 107 
taken prisoner by Raleigh . 108 
names given by . . . 121 



PAOB 

Sarmiento, Pedro de Gamboa, 
doubted the variation of the 
compass .... 145 

observed a lunar . . . 152 
Sarmiento, Mount, so named by 

FitzRoy . . . .122 

Sarmiento, Abra de, Davis at . . 128 
'' Sauci/ Jack," joined the Earl of 

Cumberland at the Azores . 83 
sent to cut out prizes at Fayal 85 
Savage Mes in Hudson Strait . 336 
Scai-boroiigk (see Huntriss). 
Schuuten and Le Maire, first to 

round Cape Horn . . . 100 
Scill;/ Isks, survey by Davis . 37, 77 
sighted during third Arctic 

voyage 55 

Scurvy, dreadful sufferings of crew 

of ''Desire" .... 137 
outbreak in tlie KI.C. fleet . 201 
among Hudson's crew . . 230 
in Baffin's ship ; death of the 

cook 200 

Seals, many se^n by Davis, off 

Greenland . . . .39 
at Gilbert Sound . . .41 
flesh of, collected at Penguin 

Island 126 

"Seaman's Secrets" dedicated to 

Lord Howard . . 81, 115 

publication .... 158 

analysis . . . 158 to 16:i 

second pdition . . 212, 223, 225 

Sebaldiiies, a name of the Falkland 

Islands 128 

Serrano, Juan Rodriguez de, chief 

pilot with Magell.in . . 94 
Seven Islands north of Spitzber- 

geii, sighted by TafiBn. . 254 

Seville 195 

Seychelles 188 

Seymour, Lord Henry ... 4 

captain of the " ifffinftow " . 75 

stationed off Calais . 76, 77, 79 

Shackleton, Cape, Baffin < ff . .258 

Shah Abbas of Persia, expulsion of 

Poi'tugtiese from Ormuz . 1.64 

Shakespeare 4 

Sharpham Wood, on the Dart . 6 
Sheffield, Lord, captain of the 

" White Be'ir" ... 75 
in action ; knighted . . 79 



INDEX. 



297 



PAGE 

Sherborm^ ^ , - ^ .138 
Shilling, Captain, BaflBa serving 

under, E.I.O. voyage ., . 262 
settled Engllbk trade ia the 

Red Sea, . . . .262 

in coinmai>d of tke fleet . . 262 

fight with Portaguese fleet . 263 

deatli, buried At Jashk , ,264 

Sim7ues, one of the mutineers 

against Hudson , . . 232 
Singapore, the *^ Tig&r^ ancliored 

east of 217 

Sleeve (see Briti^ Channel) , 77, 162 

Sluys, fall of €4 

Southern ContineM, belief in .. -99, 100 
exploded by Captain Cook . 100 
SovXhweU, Sir Robert, captain of 

thQ" Elizabeth loims" . ^ 75 
in action , , , , . 79 

at Cadiz 177 

SmitA, Edward, mutineer on board 

the "Desire", , , 123, 134 

death 135 

Smith, Sir Thomas, Governor ef 

the E.I.a , , , , 194 
notice of . , , . . 196 
eng^ed Dr. Hood to lectaare 

on navigation at his house - 196 
founder of the E. I.e. , .197 
care «f health of andprovlsious 

t>t the cnew , . . , 198 
foresaw the futUT« greatness 

of the Cocapany . . . 209 
sent Hudson t© disoover the 

N,W.P, . . , . 228, 233 
joined in sejsdii^ Capet. Hull 

to Greenland, , . . 25© 

patron of BiiSin^s voyage , 266 

Sm-ith Sound, ia BaSBn^s Bay . , 239 

observation for vai-iution in . 261 

Sm.yth, WUUaxs^ master of t&e 

"<ra6*'tei" with Fbebishei- . 22 

Soliims i7d 

SousoL, Gasper -de, leaAsr of 

Italaaiis in the Arniad^i . 7^ 
Sotrffe Sea (see P&cific). 
SpoHi^ fieei, iavasion of Englai>d 

contemplated , , ,64 
jostle ships bttilt at Bilbao 

and Santander , , 72, 73 
commanders of ships; arma- 
ment , , , , , 73 



PAGE 

^pani'-h fleet, under the Duke of 

Medina Sidouia . , .73 
reiir ships engaged , . .78 
■engagement oflf the Isle of 

Wight , . • . . 79 

•defe:^ and flight . , .80 

^S'paJlta)vis^as explorers , , , 9S 

as pilots . , , , , 151 

Spenser ...... 4 

Spitzbergeii , , , , .16 
discoveries of Barents , .183 
'Visited by Hudson . , 227, 228 
Saffian's voy^es to , , 252, 254 
north ooast -explored by 
Baffin , . , , .254 
"** SquiaTeL," loss of, "with Sir 

Humphrey Gilbert , .10 
<5rest of tiie Gilberts , , 10 
Stadiu.% Epfcemeris of, used by 

Davis . . , , ,161 
■State Paper OJfwe, docuaaents re- 
lating to Davis at, , , 268 
-Staten Iskmd, discosvery , . 97 

■Stockmam, Pieter, Dutch «captain of 

.tlve-'*Zee«2o", , , .184 
g I imped overboard, killed . 191 
Stok-t: Creek, on tlie Dart . , , 5 
Stoke Gabriel, parisik in =wkidb Sand- 
ridge is sitaiated , , . 5 

churda 5 

Davis entries in Pai'ish 

Register of . , .11, 267 
family of Ch<a«jhwards at , 55 
son of John Davis baptized 

at , 65 

D^s at, -wljea Ills fourth child 
■wjis bom . . , ,80 
Stve.bo ,,,,.. 170 
St3\)n(/, Captaiiij named the channel 

between the Falkland Isles. 126 
Sukkertoppen in Greenland, Davis 

At 48 

same as Cockayne Sound . 250 
Siimatitt (see Adk'en, Batu, Pedii', 

Primnait, Tiku), 
Simda, Strait of, K.I.CI fleet be- 
calmed in „ . . .207 
Puk) Marra in , , . . 217 
" Sust^ine," ship in Eteivis's Arctic 

expedition .... 35 
arraaagentents; iat^-nal eco- 
nomy 36 



^98 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

"Sunshine," allowance of the men 

increased ... 39, 42 

sailing up Cumberland Gulf . 42 

detached on separate service 44, 51 

Davis s third voyage ; sent to 

the fisheiy . . 54, 55, 63 

Bur, on the coas.t of Oman, Bafl&n 

wintered at . . . . 264 

Surat, EJ.C. fleet at . . . 262 

Captain Shilling at . . .263 

English fleet assembled at . 264 

Surveys by Davis, Scilly Isles 37, 77 

Arctic Seas . . . 69, 71 

Labrador 70 

the " Sleeve " or Channel . 77 
Magellan's Strait . . .183 
Red Sea and Persian Gulf sur- 
veyed by Baffin . . 262, 264 
" Sv^an," ship in first voyage of 

theE.I.C 197 

sent to Priaman for pepper . 205 
Sutton-at'llone .... 196 
'^Swallow" Queen's ship, Richard 

Hawkins 75 

" Sioan," one of the ships in 

Drake's expedition . . 101 
Swan, Captain, E.I.C. ship " Soe- 

buck" 264 

" Svnjtsure," Queen's ship , . 75 

Tabin, Cape (see Pliny). 

Table Bay 286 

E.I.C. fleet in . . . .201 

"Tigrer" at ... 315 

(See Saldanha Bay.) 
Telescope (see Janun). 

Tenasserim 192 

Terceira, prize captured off . .83 

one of the Azores , . 84, 85 
Tho^nas, John, mutineer . . 230 

seized Hudson . . . 231, 232 
" Thomasine," ship in Spitzbergen 

voyage, Baffin pilot . . 254 

off Hakluyt Head . . .255 

return 255 

'• J%oina8^i?e«,"shipinFrobisher's 

third voyage . . . .23 
Thome, Dr., letter on trade with 

India 195 

Title Table by Davis . . .160 
Tides in Hudson's Bay . . . 243 

observed by Baffin . . . 261 



PAGE 

Tieii'a del Fuego, named by Magel- 
lan. . . . . .94 

natives 128 

"Tiger," Captain Joseph's ship, 

Spitzbergen voyage . . 252 
" ri5rer,"shipof Sir E. Michelbome, 

Davis pilot . . . .214 
voj'age to the East Indies . 215 
off Sumatra . . . .216 
fall in with Japanese pirates 

218, 219 
murder of Captain Davis . 22 ) 

return 2;il 

" Tiger's Whelp" . . . .214 

rejoined her consort . . 216 

Tiku, pepper mart in Sumatra . 206 

sailing directions for . . 217 

Tobias, Cap tain, of the " Black rin- 

'/lace," with D.i vis . . .116 

discovered a safe anchorage . 122 

Tobias Bay .... 122, 123 

(See Mazaredo Bay.) 
Toledo, Don Francisco de. Viceroy 

of Peru . . . . .104 
sentoutSarmiento's expedition 105 
Toledo, Francisco, in command of 

" San Felipe" . . . 73 
Tor Bay, Dutch ships at anchor 

in 185 

E.l.C. fleet in . . . .200 

Totnes 4 

Davis probably at school at 9, 34 
Totnes Road, on western side of 

Davis Strait . . . .41 

Towerson, Mr 29 

Totenshend, Roger, captain of " Ark 

Royal" 75 

knighted 79 

" Trade's Increase" large ship of 

E.T.C. 209 

Transylvamts, Maximilian, account 

of Maarellau's voyage . 100, 114 
Traverse Book (see Log Book). 

Tringano^ 218 

" Trinidad," ship in Magellan's 

fleet 93 

Trinity House, master and brethren 
helped Luke Fox in fitting 

out 239 

"Triumph," one of the five ships 
designed by Sir John Haw- 
kins . . . . . 74 



INDEX. 



299 



PAGE 

" Tnuviph," Sir Martin Frobisber 

in command .... 75 
engaged, with the "Ark 
Royal " . . . .78, 79 

" Uggcra Salvagnia" prizeof Davis ; 

lawsuit as to . . . .91 

Vlloa, Francisco de, sent by Val- 
divia to reconnoitie Magel- 
lan's Strait . . . .98 

Ungava Bay, shown ou Mercator's 

map 28 

Cortereal possibly reached . 65 

Urdaneta, a friar of Mexico who 
claimed that he had made 
theN.W.P 27 

Valdez, Diego Flores de, Castilian 

admii-al 73 

in command of a fleet to escort 
Sarmiento . . . .107 
Valdez, Pedro de, in command of 

the Andalusian squadron . 73 
his ship disabled . . . 78 
Valdivia, Pedro de, conqueror of 

Chile 98 

Valdivia, town in Chile . 98, 99 
Variation of the compass, observed 

by Columbus . . . 145 
observed by Davis . . .59 
series observed at London . 59 
observed by Bafi&n in Smith 

Sound 261 

Vaz, Lopez, historian, captured by 

the English . . .109, 114 
Venice, i)ublication of narrative and 

map of the Zeni at . .17 
Ventendona, Martin de, leader of 
the Italian contingent in the 
Spanish Armada . . .73 
Ventry Bay, anival of the Earl of 

Cumlserland at . . .90 
Vera, Pedro de, captain in the fleet 

of Loaysa . . , .96 

Veere, town in Zeeland . . .179 

Moucheron settled at . . 181 

notice of .... . 180 

Vere, Sir Francis .... 4 

at Cadiz and Azores . . 177 

his report on the intended 

voyage of the Dutch to 

India . . . . 178, 184 



PAGE 

V€sptMxiu$, Amerigo, never went 

south of the Kiver Plate . 127 
•" Victory," ship designed by Sir J. 

Hawkins .... 74 
Sir J. Hawkins in command of 75 

in action 79 

lent to the Earl of Cumberland 81 
visitedbyleadiugmenof Horta 87 
captured a prize off Gracio^a . 88 
suflferings of tiie crew on pas- 
sage home . . . .90 
' ' Victoria," ship in Magellan's fleet 93 
first to cu-cumnavigate the 
globe . . . . 95, 100 
Villalobos, Juan de, in exjiedition 

of Sarmiento, , . . 105 
Viedina, Andres de, in command of 

colonists in Magellan's Strait 1 07 

his attempt to save the scttlei-s 111 

Vinla^id of the Norsemen . . 68 

Virginia 4 

Raleigh's expeditious to . .32 
Heriofn account of . . . 156 
Virgins, Cape, named by Magel- 
lan. . . . 94,96,99 
sighted by Drake . . .101 
passed by Sarmiento . .106 
ship of Captain Merrick off .113 
sighted by Davis 120, 124, 128, 134 
described 121 

Wadditon, on the Dart ... 6 
Richard Holway of . . 9, 12 

Adams of 12 

Wagenaar, his " Mariner's Mirror " 183 

Walcheren 179 

Walker, "W., mentioned the ser- 
vices of Davis to the Dutch, 
in Ids translation of the voy- 
nge of Jacob Neck . . 194 
Walsingham, Sir Francis, Secretary 
of State, at Dr. Dee's house 
at Mortlake . . . .14 
conference with Dr. Dee, Davis 

and Gilbert . . . 15 to 29 
convinced of the value of Arc- 
tic discovery . . . .29 
patron of the voyage of Davis 33, 34 
report of Davis to, ou his re- 
turn .... 43,225 
encouraged the third attempt 53 
his death a great loss 65, 172, 184 



3oa 



INDEX, 



P*GE 

Waldngham, Cape, so- named by 

Davis 42 

Warden, John, master's mate with. 

James ; death , . , 245 

♦* Wargpile," Raleigh's ship at Cadiz 177 

Wartcick, Earl of, patron of Davis 34 

ITarwici'a Foreland named by 

Davis , . . . , 61 

Wats, Robert, cari)enterln Davis's 

Arctic voyage . . .36 

Weert, Sibald, sigh ted the Falkland 

Islands 128 

(See Sebaldmes.y 

Werner first described the cross- 
staff 145 

suggested lunar observations 145 

Weitcote's Devon; Faith mentioned 
as daughter of Sir J, Fulford 
and wife of Davis . .8, 268 

West Indies, voyage of Hawkins 7, 171 
voyage of Raleigh to . .11 
Lancaster lost his ship in . 196 

Weston, Lord, his foreland, named 

by Fox 243 

Whale Sound in Baffin's Bay . . 259 

Whales, many seen by the " Sun- 
shine" , .... 38 
Basque sailors experienced in 
catching . . .38, 252 

IVheele, Paul, in expedition of 

Chudleigh . . . .112 

" White Bear," Queen's ship de- 
signed by Hawkins . . 74 
Lord Sheffield captain . . 75 
following the Spanish fleet . 78 
in action 79 

White Sea, voyages to . .7, 13, 26 

Whitehall, map of Sebastian Cabot 

in the privy gallery at . .15 

•' White Lion," ship in Chudleigh's 

expedition .... Ill 

Wight, Isle of, action with Spanish 

fleet off 79 

" Wild Man," Chudleigh's ship in 

the Strait of Magellan . . 112 

Willoughhy, Sir Hugh, voyage of 16, 171 

Willoughby Land . . . .16 

Willoughhy, Lord, fighting the 

Spaniards at Bergen op Zoom 74 

Wilson, Wm., boatswain in Hud- 
son's last voyage . . . 2?.0 
one of the mutineers . 230, 232 



TKG% 

Winter, Sir John, a forest named 

after, by James . , . 245 
Winter, Sir "William, in command 

of the "^ Vanguard " . ,75 
in the '''^ Elizabeth " in Drake's 

voyage . , , . , 101 
discovered Winter's bark , 102 
with Sir F, Vere in the " Island 
Voyage" , . . .177 
Winter'^s bark .... 102, 103 
described by Forster 102, 121, 122 
Witherington, Rt,, in command 
of a ship sent to tlie South 
Sea by the Earl of Cumber- 
laud 109 

Wdstenholme, Sir John, patron of 

Fox's voyage . . . 239 
patron of Baffin's voyage . 256 
Baffin's letter to, in Piirchas . 256 
Wolstenholme Sound in Baffin's Bay 259 
Women Islands in Baffin's Bay . 258 
Woodhouse, Thomas, mathemati- 
cian with Hudson . . 229 
set adrift by the mutineers . 331 
" World's Hydrographical Discov- 
ery," . . 169, 175, 225, 268 
Wi'ight, Edward, the great mathe- 
matician .... 64 
in the expedition of the Earl 
of Cumberland to the Azores; 
historian of the voyage 80, 87, 268 
chased by a great fish at Flores 83 
meeting with John Davis at 

Fayal 87 

construction of table of meri- 
dional parts . . 83, 141, 163 

notice of 154 

improvement of charts . 154, 155 
his " Correction of Certain Er- 
rors in Navigation " . . 155 
new map of the world (1599) 
attributed to . , . 168 
Wyche's Sound, furthest point of 
Baffin on the north coast of 
Spitzbergen .... 254 
Wylson, John, captain of the Dart- 
mouth ship " Crescent" fitted 
out against the Spanish Ar- 
mada 77 

Tonge, Mr., merchant of London, 

at the Mortlake interview . 29 



INDEX. 



301 



PAGE 

Tm-ke, GUbert, in Frobisher's Arctic 

voyage 22 

Young, James, mate in Hudson's 

ship 227 

ZamoiHino, Spanish writer on na- 
vigation .... 150 
Zeeland, towns of . . . 179, 180 
voyage to India from . 178, 184 



PAGE 

Zeno, Antonio, voyage to the North 19 
Carlo, letters from his brothers to 19 
Nicolo, joined his brother An- 
tonio in Frisland . . . 19 
Nicolo (the younger), publica- 
tion of letters of his ances- 
tors and a map at Venice . 18 
Zeno map . . . . . .20 

couiusion caused by 20, 24, 65 



THE END. 



THE 

WORLD'S GREAT EXPLORERS 
AND EXPLORATIONS. 

EDITED BY 

J. SCOTT KELTIE. 

Librarian, Royal Geographical Society,' 

H. J. MACKINDER, M.A., 

Reader in Geography at the University of Oxford; 

AND 

E. G. RAVENSTEIN, F.R.G.S. 



UNDER this title Messrs. DODD MEAD & 
COMPANY propose to issue a series of 
volumes dealing with the life and work of those 
heroic adventurers through whose exertions the 
face ofthe earth has been made known to humanity. 
Each volume will, so far as the ground covered 
admits, deal mainly with one prominent name 
associated with some particular region, and will 
tell the story of his life and adventures, and 
describe the work which he accomplished in the 
service of geographical discovery. The aim will 
be to do ample justice to geographical results, 
while the personality of the explorer is never lost 



sight of. In a few cases in which the work of 
discovery cannot be possibly associated with the 
name of any single explorer, some departure from 
this plan may be unavoidable, but it will be fol- 
lowed as far as practicable. In each case the exact 
relation of the work accomplished by each explorer 
to what went before and what followed after, will 
be pointed out ; so that each volume will be 
virtually an account of the exploration of the 
region with which it deals. Though it will not be 
sought to make the various volumes dovetail 
exactly into each other, it is hoped that when the 
series is concluded, it will form a fairly complete 
Biographical History of Geographical Discovery. 

Each volume will be written by a recognised 
authority on his subject, and will be amply fur- 
nished with specially prepared maps, portraits, and 
other original illustrations. 

While the names of the writers whose co-opera- 
tion has been secured are an indication of the high 
standard aimed at from a literary and scientific 
point of view, the series will be essentially a 
popular one, appealing to the great mass of general 
readers, young and old, who have always shown a 
keen interest in the story of the world's explora- 
tion, when well told. 

While the first volume will deal with explorers 
of different nationalities in the early days of 
discovery, it is proposed to add several devoted 
to the labors of eminent Americans who have at- 
tained prominence in that field. 

Each volume will consist of about 300 pp. i2mo, 
and will be published at $1.25. 



THE FOLLOWING VOL UMESARE EITHER READ Y OR ARE 
IN AN ADVANCED STATE OF PREPARATION: 

JOHN DAVIES, 

Arctic Explorer and Early India Navigator. By Cle- 
ments R, Markham, C.B., F.R.S. 

PALESTINE. 

By Major C. R. Conder, R.E., Leader of the Palestine 
Exploring Expeditions. 

JOHN FRANKLIN AND THE NORTH- 
WEST PASSAGE. 

By Captain Albert Markham, R.N, 

MAGELLAN AND THE PACIFIC. 

By Dr. H. H. Guillemard, author of " The Cruise of the 
Marchesa." 

SAUSSURE AND THE ALPS. 

By Douglas W. Freshfield, Hon. Sec. Royal Geograph- 
ical Society. 

MUNGO PARK AND THE NIGER. 

By Joseph Thomson, author of *' Through Masai Land," 
etc. 

THE HIMALAYA. 

By Lieut. -General R. Strachey, R.E., C.S.I., late Pre- 
sident of the R.G.S. 

LIVINGSTONE AND CENTRAL AFRICA. 

By H. H. Johnston, H.B.M., Consul at Mozambique. 



ROSS AND THE ANTARCTIC. 

By H. J. Mackinder, M.A., Reader in Geography at 
Oxford. 

BRUCE AND THE NILE. 

By J. Scott Keltie, Librarian, R.G.S. 

VASCO DE GAMA AND THE OCEAN 
HIGHWAY TO INDIA. 

By E. G. Ravenstein, F. R.G.S. 



OTHER VOLUMES TO FOLLOW WILL DEAL WITH 

HUMBOLDT AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

BARENTS AND THE N. E. PASSAGE. 

COLUMBUS AND HIS SUCCESSORS. 

JACQUES CARTIER AND CANADA. 

CAPTAIN COOK AND AUSTRALASIA. 
MARCO POLO AND CENTRAL ASIA. 

IBN BATUTA AND N. AFRICA. 

LEIF ERIKSON AND GREENLAND. 

DAMPIER AND THE BUCCANEERS. 

ETC. ETC. ETC. 



